Red-hot Dallas holds off Chicago

Dallas, TX (Basketball News) - Josh Howard scored 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks built a large first-half lead and held on to defeat Chicago, 98-94, at American Airlines Center.

Dirk Nowitzki finished with 21 points and seven boards while Jason Terry tallied 13 points for Dallas, which has won nine straight games.

Kirk Hinrich had a season-high 28 points, 26 of which came in the second half to lead the comeback attempt. Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni chipped in 14 points each for the Bulls, who had a four-game winning streak halted.

Tyson Chandler had 12 points and 16 rebounds in the loss.

The Mavericks dominated the opening 24 minutes, bolting out to a 32-18 first quarter lead that was built up to 24 points, 58-34, by halftime.

Dallas shot 52.6 percent from the floor to Chicago’s 29.3 percent, and went up by as many as 30.

Chicago flipped the script in the second half, however, doubling its point total in the third quarter alone to pull within 78-68. The key stretch came in the latter stages of the frame when the Bulls ripped off a 16-0 run to pull within 73-61.

Hinrich had nine points during the run, including a three-pointer with 2:39 remaining to finish it off.

The Bulls cut their deficit to six points, 82-76, early in the fourth quarter on a pair of Chandler free throws, but Terry quickly responded with a trey to make it a nine-point game.

The trend continued throughout the stanza, as Chicago made mini runs to make up distance on the Mavs, only to see Dallas answer repeatedly to clinch the win.

Game Notes

Dallas guard Devin Harris played despite being considered questionable with an ailing shoulder. He finished with three points...The Mavericks are 17-4 as the host this season. They have won six straight at home...This was the start of a seven-game road swing for Chicago, which is 10-11 away from home.