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Monday, Dec. 20 8:30pm ET
Brown scored 22 points in 1st half | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
DALLAS (AP) -- With offensive threats Tim Hardaway and Jamal Mashburn out with injuries, the Miami Heat got the points they needed from an unlikely source. P.J. Brown scored 22 of his season-high 25 points in the first half as the Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks 92-89 on Monday night to snap a four-game losing streak. With the Mavericks sagging defensively on center Alonzo Mourning in the first half, Brown had plenty of shooting room. He was 9-for-12 from the field in the first 24 minutes, and added 13 rebounds for the game. "Shawn Bradley was in my lap, and if they weren't going to guard P.J., I told him he had to be a threat and shoot the ball," Mourning said. "We've got 50 percent of our offense out. Somebody's got to fill the void. Tonight different guys stepped up and made themselves more of a threat." Brown said the Heat needed to stop the negative trend before things got out of hand. "A week and a half ago we beat Portland and Sacramento on the road and we were on top of the world," Brown said. "Then we were 0-4 and it was the end of the world. We wanted to end it right here." Mourning had a key block in the final 10 seconds, added 18 points and 11 rebounds to help coach Pat Riley avoid the first five-game losing streak of his career. The victory was Riley's 26th straight against the Mavericks. With the Heat clinging to a 91-89 lead, Mourning blocked Damon Jones' layup attempt with 6.5 seconds left. "I saw him coming," Mourning said. "I was determined they weren't going to get anything going to the hole. If they were going to beat us, they were going to have to heave up something from the outside." Brown converted one of two free throws with 4.6 remaining, and Dirk Nowitzki's off-balance 20-footer at the buzzer was short for the Mavericks. Voshon Lenard added 17 points for Miami, which extended its winning streak against Dallas to 15 games. Gary Trent led the Mavericks with a season-high 22 points. Dallas has lost four straight and seven of eight as it completed a 1-5 homestand. Trent was playing his fourth game after missing the first 22 with a hamstring injury. The Mavericks broke a streak of poor defensive efforts, but Dallas wasn't aggressive on offense. "If we could piece it all together, we would have a great game," Mavericks forward Cedric Ceballos said. "Sometimes we're on fire offensively. Tonight I thought we had a real good defensive effort." The Heat shot 8-for-12 from beyond the 3-point line. Miami took a 88-78 lead with eight minutes left on Lenard's drive. The Mavericks had a 6-0 spurt capped by Michael Finley's 10-footer to reduce the deficit to 88-84 with 4:00 remaining, but Dan Majerle's 3-pointer with 3:22 left gave Miami a 91-84 edge. Dallas got two free throws from Ceballos and a 3-pointer from Nowitzki with 1:05 left to pull to within three at 91-89. Majerle's defense limited Dallas scoring leader Finley to 13 points. Finley missed 12-of-17 field goal attempts. "He did a good job on Michael," Riley said. "Michael's capable of getting 30 any night."
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Miami Clubhouse Dallas Clubhouse RECAPS LA Lakers 99 Boston 90
Miami 92
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