NBA Game Summary - New Orleans at Dallas

Dallas, TX (Basketball News) - Dirk Nowitzki scored 13 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, and the Dallas Mavericks held on for a 90-86 victory over New Orleans at American Airlines Center.

Nowitzki opened the game by making just one of his first five shots, but he went 8-of-14 the rest of the way and came up big down the stretch when Dallas was struggling to hold on.

Marquis Daniels added 13 points for the Mavericks, who have won seven of eight. Jason Terry and Michael Finley chipped in 11 points apiece in the win, and Nowitzki added a team-high 11 rebounds.

Lee Nailon scored 14 points off the bench to lead the Hornets, who have lost four straight. P.J. Brown collected 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds in defeat, while Dan Dickau and J.R. Smith added 10 points apiece.

The Mavericks never trailed after being down 31-29 with 10 minutes left in the second quarter, but they were ahead just 84-82 after Smith hit a tough jump shot for the Hornets with 1:47 remaining in the game.

Nowitzki’s long jumper with 46 seconds left extended Dallas’ lead to 86-82 before Dickau cut it to 86-83 by hitting 1-of-2 free throws at the other end.

Finley then drained a jumper to make it 88-83 with just 21 seconds remaining.

Smith’s free throws got the Hornets within three again with 10 seconds left, and Finley missed twice from the line at the other end to leave New Orleans with some hope.

The Mavericks opted to put Smith on the line again, and he drained 1-of-2 to make it 88-86. Nowitzki was fouled after grabbing the rebound off the miss, and he made both free throws with 4.1 seconds left to seal the win.

"It’s dangerous if you let teams hang around," Nowitzki said. "It shouldn’t really come down to the last two possessions. Obviously this wasn’t one of our best games."

Dallas, which rebounded from a one-point loss to Phoenix on Saturday, shot 50 percent from the field in the first half for a 51-43 at the break. The Hornets, who led 28-24 after one quarter, shot 49 percent in the half.

The Mavericks never trailed in the third quarter, but New Orleans was within two points twice, the last time coming when Chris Andersen’s bucket made it 62-60 with four minutes remaining.

Dallas ended the game shooting 45 percent and picked up its 12th straight win in the series. The Hornets shot 47 percent.