Howard Leads Mavericks Past Lakers
 

DALLAS -- The Dallas Mavericks have reached the midpoint of their regular season with the NBA's best record.

Not only have the defending Western Conference champions rebounded impressively from the first 0-4 start in team history, the Mavericks are now 5-0 in games this season when they had a chance to avenge an earlier loss.

Josh Howard had 29 points and 11 rebounds Thursday night in the Mavericks' 114-95 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, the only team that has beaten them in the past 6 1/2 weeks.

Dallas (33-8) has won 19 of 20 games over a 38-day stretch, six in a row since a 101-98 loss in Los Angeles on Jan. 7 that ended a 13-game winning streak.

"That was pretty much all the motivation we needed," Howard said. "We lost focus in the fourth quarter out there. Tonight, we took it upon ourselves as a team, without Coach even having to tell us, and played our game."

In the only other NBA game Thursday night, the Miami Heat held on to beat the Indiana Pacers 104-101.

Jason Terry had a season-high 13 assists for the Mavericks, including one early in the second quarter when he missed a shot underneath, grabbed his own rebound and swiped the ball in one motion to Nowitzki at the top of the key for a 3-pointer. That made it 32-30, and Dallas never trailed again.

Dallas stretched its lead to as many as 28 in the third quarter, when the Lakers went more than seven minutes without a field goal.

Terry's 3-pointer that made it 82-57 with 5:20 left in the third quarter capped an 11-0 run that began when he penetrated the paint before dishing out to Nowitzki on the right wing for a 3. Terry also had a behind-the-back pass to Nowitzki for another basket.

"Guys were knocking down shots. We were aggressive all night," Terry said. "It was a good win. Now, we've got to go on the road and take care of some business."

Dallas starts the second half of its season Sunday in Miami, a rematch of last season's NBA finals, when the Mavericks won the first two games before losing the next four.

"We've got some bad memories about Miami from the past, but it's another season and we have to look at it like that," Jerry Stackhouse said.

Kobe Bryant had 26 points for the Lakers, whose three-game winning streak included a 100-96 victory at San Antonio on Wednesday night.

"It's disappointing because we didn't give ourselves a chance. You want to hang in and give yourself a chance down the stretch," Bryant said. "We were a little sluggish but I don't think fatigue was a factor."

Jordan Farmar's 3-pointer with 1:12 left in the third quarter ended the Lakers' field goal drought (eight misses in a row), but they were already down 91-68 by then.

Farmer finished with 17 points and Sasha Vujacic had 10.

"I thought we played pretty well for 14, 15 minutes, but they got going in the second quarter and we couldn't recover," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

Howard and Nowitzki led six players in double-figure scoring for Dallas, which got 14 from Devean George, 12 from Terry and 11 each from Buckner and Stackhouse, who also sang the National Anthem before the game. Erick Dampier didn't score any points, but had 10 boards and matched a season high with four blocks.

Dallas led 60-48 at halftime after scoring on 11 of its last 14 possessions before the break. That included six points from Anthony Johnson in the final 1:02, when he twice beat an expiring shot clock.

Johnson's long jumper gave Dallas its first 10-point lead, 56-46. Johnson also made two free throws and later grabbed a loose ball and made a desperation 12-foot runner with 4.6 seconds left in the half - and zero on the shot clock.

George, who spent his first seven NBA seasons with the Lakers before signing as a free agent with Dallas last summer, started against his former team in place of Devin Harris, who was sent home with a high fever. George missed his first two shots, leading to an early timeout when he got an earful from coach Avery Johnson, then made seven of his last eight.

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