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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
DALLAS (AP) – The Dallas Mavericks have remained in playoff
contention by winning the games they have to win.
|  | | Juwan Howard enjoyed his finest game with Dallas, getting 27 points and nine rebounds Tuesday. |
Juwan Howard's 27 points and nine rebounds led the Mavericks to
their fourth straight victory, 122-98 over the New Jersey Nets on
Tuesday night.
Dallas has won three in a row against sub-.500 teams and seven
of its last eight games overall.
Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley each scored 18 first-half
points and finished with 25 for Dallas.
"Our mindset going into these games is that the games we should
win, we have to win," said Finley. "And when we play teams above
us, we need to get at least half of those."
Shawn Bradley had 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocked
shots, and Steve Nash had 11 assists to help the Mavericks win
their 41st game, one more than last season. They also set a
season-high point total.
Dallas shot 44-for-88 from the field. Howard hit 11 free throws
and Nowitzki was perfect on 10 foul shots.
Nash said balanced scoring will be a key for Dallas the rest of
the season.
"We really don't care who gets the points and who gets the
assists," Nash said. "We're just trying to be a versatile team."
Dallas native Kenyon Martin had seven points and five rebounds
in 19 minutes for the Nets in his first pro game in his hometown.
But Martin sat out the second half due to a sprained left ankle
suffered late in the second quarter.
X-rays on Martin's ankle were negative, and he will be listed as
day-to-day. He was disappointed that he wasn't able to finish the
game, especially in front of his mother and other family members.
"I hate not playing," Martin said. "I was a little upset at
halftime, but I realized I wasn't going to be able to go."
Nets coach Byron Scott said the loss of Martin was the turning
point in the game.
"Losing Kenyon really hurt us," Scott said. "He's been
playing extremely well on both ends of the court. I thought he
matched up well with most of their guys. It was a tough loss."
Johnny Newman's 18 points and Stephon Marbury 15 paced the Nets,
who've lost six of their last eight.
Clinging to a 56-54 lead early in the third quarter, the
Mavericks broke the game open with a 19-4 run that included a
3-pointer from Finley and two straight 3-pointers from Nowitzki.
Nowitzki's two free throws with 7:38 left in the third quarter
completed the decisive spurt to give Dallas a 75-58 advantage.
"At halftime we all said if we could each step it up a notch,
we'd be OK," said Bradley. "That's what we did. We came out hot
there in the second half."
The Mavericks carried a 90-74 lead into the final quarter and
coach Don Nelson cleared his bench midway through the fourth
quarter.
Dallas stretched its lead to 56-52 at halftime on Finley's
3-pointer at the buzzer.
"We played well for the first quarter and a half, then went on
a little bit of a lull there. It was a good time to get back
rolling again," Finley said of his 3-pointer at the end of the
first half.
Game notes
Nowitzki is bidding to become the highest-scoring European
in league history. He entered Tuesday's game with a 21.9 scoring
average. ... The late Drazen Petrovic averaged 22.3 points in
1992-93. ... The Nets had won four of their last five against the
Mavericks. ... Nets center Evan Eschmeyer had a career-high 11
points.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
New Jersey Clubhouse
Dallas Clubhouse
RECAPS
Milwaukee 101
Toronto 97
Atlanta 109
Vancouver 99
New York 98
Cleveland 79
Sacramento 114
Orlando 108
Dallas 122
New Jersey 98
Houston 127
Indiana 118
Seattle 99
Portland 90
LA Lakers 112
Boston 107
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