Nowitzki and Dallas crush Nets

Josh Howard netted 23 and also pulled down six board while Jason Terry added 13 points and seven assists for the Mavericks, who have won 13 of their last 14 games. Devin Harris donated 10 points for Dallas, which has won 12 of the last 13 meetings.

Vince Carter chipped in 20 points on 6-of-19 shooting and Nenad Krstic poured in 18 points and grabbed 12 boards for the Nets, who had a two-game winning streak come to an end. Jason Kidd finished with 10 points, eight assists and eight rebounds in the contest for New Jersey, which is 1-7 versus the Western Conference this season.

The Mavs jumped out to an 8-0 lead as the Nets missed their first six shots from the floor. However, New Jersey went on an 11-5 run, capped by Carter’s layup, narrowing the gap to 13-11.

Leading 15-13, Dallas reeled off an 11-2 spurt spanning the first and second quarters. Jerry Stackhouse drained four straight free throws at the end of the opening frame for a 21-14 advantage, and Devean George’s trey capped the run, extending the lead to 26-15, as New Jersey once again began the frame ice cold, missing its first five shots in the second.

The Mavericks cruised into the half with a 49-35 margin.

Harris’ layup pushed the lead to 57-40, but the Nets stormed back with a 19-7 rally, including eight points from Carter and six from Mikki Moore, cutting the deficit to five, 64-59. However, that was as close as New Jersey would get.

Leading, 69-63, early in the fourth, the Mavs put the game away with a 19-8 surge, including 10 points from Nowitzki, for an 88-71 score with 3:10 to play.

Game Notes

The Nets had only 10 field goals and shot 29 percent from the floor in the first 24 minutes of play...New Jersey’s Richard Jefferson ended with 12 points and six rebounds...Dallas shot 41 percent from the field compared to 35.1 percent for the Nets...Stackhouse finished with nine points. -