Terry leads Mavs over Magic; win streak hits 15

Dirk Nowitzki had another MVP-type performance with 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Mavericks, who stretched their franchise-record home winning streak to 22 contests.

Josh Howard ended with 21 points for Dallas, which eclipsed the 14 straight wins set at the start of the 2002-03 season. They’ve won 36 of the last 38 games overall and haven’t lost since January 25 at Chicago.

The Mavericks top the league with an incredible 50-9 record thus far, but for a while Saturday night it looked as if the Magic may be able to stop the streak.

Dwight Howard had 25 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Magic, who have lost nine straight times at Dallas. Hedo Turkoglu added 19 points and seven boards for Orlando, which has dropped three in a row and seven of eight overall.

Trevor Ariza’s three-point play boosted the Magic to an 81-75 lead with 9:30 left, but the visitors couldn’t hold on, as Nowitzki’s three-pointer gave the Mavs an 89-86 edge with 4:43 left.

Orlando came back to tie the game at 96 on two free throws from Jameer Nelson with 1:57 left, but Terry responded with a jumper, then stole the ball off a poor pass from Nelson. That led to a three-point play from Josh Howard with 1 1/2 minutes left.

Dwight Howard’s free throws had the visitors within 101-98 16 seconds later, but after Nowitzki missed a three, Darko Milicic turned the ball over for the Magic, losing the ball in the lane. Nowitzki sealed the win with a jumper with 7.9 seconds left.

Devin Harris ended with 10 points for Dallas, which ended 9-of-21 from three- point range. That included a 6-for-11 performance from Terry.

Nelson had 17 points, Ariza 11 and Carlos Arroyo 10 for Orlando.

Dallas led 24-19 after one quarter, but the Magic rallied in the second to grab a 42-40 edge at the half. It remained tight throughout the third, with Dallas holding a 75-72 lead going into the fourth.

Game Notes

Terry was one assist off a career-high, set March 25, 2003 versus the Lakers...Nowitzki was 10-of-18 from the floor.