Nowitzki, Mavericks cruise to 11th straight win

Josh Howard added 27 points for the red-hot Mavericks, who won their 11th straight game and for the 19th consecutive time on their home floor. Jerry Stackhouse chipped in with 16 points and six assists off the bench.

Carmelo Anthony dropped in 34 points and had six rebounds for the reeling Nuggets, who dropped their fourth straight contest. Allen Iverson tallied 26 points, five boards and four assists, while Marcus Camby finished with 10 points, 17 boards and seven assists.

"Sometimes I think we just don’t have the energy to keep the pace of the game as much as we want and our best game is running," said Denver coach George Karl. "Hopefully when we get in better shape we will be able to finish off games."

After a tightly contested first half, Dallas seemed to take control of the game with an 8-0 run midway through the third quarter. Stackhouse’s three highlighted the burst that gave the Mavs a 78-63 cushion.

But, the Nuggets refused to go away. An 8-0 run of their own featuring consecutive buckets by Iverson drew Denver to within six, 82-76, with a little over two minutes left in the stanza.

Dallas recovered a bit from there and took an 88-79 lead into the final frame.

Austin Croshere then converted a driving layup and Devin Harris a running slam to ignite the crowd, giving the Mavs a 92-79 cushion a minute into the fourth quarter.

The Nuggets never got closer than nine points the rest of the way as Dallas coasted to the finish line.

Denver built a slim 33-29 advantage after the opening 12 minutes but Dallas came back to take a 60-56 edge at intermission.

"Tonight Denver got out of the gates on us tonight," said Mavs coach Avery Johnson. "They came in and looked fresh. They put 33 points on us in the first quarter. We were active in the second half and on top of some of their stuff."

Game Notes

The Mavericks are currently enjoying their third double-digit winning streak of the season. They already have put together winning streaks of 12 and 13 games, along with their current 11-game streak...Dallas’ franchise record for consecutive wins is 14, set at the beginning of the 2002-03 season...The Mavs are a league best 26-3 at home and improved their overall mark to 46-9, also tops in the NBA...The Nuggets are 12-13 as the visitor this season.