Nowitzki, Mavs hold off Kings

Jason Terry ended with 18 points and seven assists for the Mavericks, who won for the 13th straight time at home. Jerry Stackhouse donated 16 points off the bench.

Devin Harris had 14 points and six assists for Dallas, which had an eight-game overall winning streak halted Thursday at Chicago, but wasted little time getting back in the win column.

Ron Artest netted 25 points with six rebounds and Kevin Martin had 21 points for the Kings, who lost their second in a row. Corliss Williamson totaled 20 points off the bench.

Down 79-75 after the third, Dallas netted the first nine points of the fourth to go ahead 84-79. Harris converted a three-point play during the burst, which Stackhouse capped on a jumper with 9:44 on the clock.

Martin stopped the bleeding with a pair of free throws, but Nowitzki came back with a layup and a three-pointer to push Dallas’ edge to 89-81 with 7:43 on the clock.

Back-to-back jumpers by Brad Miller pulled the Kings to within 91-87, but Dallas netted the next four points to go back up by eight.

Sacramento later trailed by six at 99-93 before a Williamson layup, a free throw by Artest and a layup from Martin made it a 99-98 game with 1:16 to go.

Terry and Mike Bibby exchanged baskets before a jumper from Nowitzki put Dallas in front 103-100 with 27 seconds on the clock.

Out of a timeout, Martin missed a three from the right corner and the Kings quickly fouled Stackhouse. He hit just one from the line for a four-point edge with 9.7 ticks to go.

Miller than hit a three to make it a one-point game and Nowitzki was fouled after a Mavs timeout. He hit both with 3.4 seconds left for a three-point edge at 106-103.

The Mavericks fouled John Salmons in the backcourt to prevent a three-point try, and he hit the first before intentionally missing the second. Dallas came up with the board, though, to seal the win.

Five straight points from Nowitzki put Dallas ahead 63-58 with 8:26 to go in the third, but the Kings responded with a 9-2 spurt, as Artest’s bucket put his squad ahead 67-65.

Devean George hit a jumper to put the Mavericks back in front before Sacramento scored five in a row to take a 72-68 lead. The Kings never trailed for the rest of the frame, and Martin’s three at the buzzer sent Sacramento into the fourth ahead 79-75.

The first half was tightly contested, as the Kings shot 52.9 percent from the floor. Dallas was better, however, hitting on 60 percent of its shots.

The Mavericks led by the slim margin of 25-22 after the first and went up by as much as eight at 31-23 after two Harris free throws early in the second. The club kept Sacramento at arms length before a Salmons three-pointer pulled the Kings to within 37-34.

In all, both teams netted 27 points in the frame, and Dallas carried a 52-49 lead into the break.

Game Notes

Dallas has won 22 of its last 24 overall...The Mavericks improved to 20-3 at home this season...The Kings have lost the first two tilts of their current four-game road trip...Dallas has won its last four over Sacramento...Bibby ended with 12 points...Josh Howard had 13 points in the win.