Sports Network) – Dirk Nowitzki finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 113-97 victory against the New York Knicks.
Jose Barea poured in 22 points off the bench for Dallas, which extended its winning streak to six games. Tyson Chandler added 15 points and 11 boards to help the Mavericks beat the Knicks for the 16th time in their last 18 meetings.
Danilo Gallinari netted 27 points to lead New York, which has dropped two of three overall. Toney Douglas added 22 points off the bench, while Amare Stoudemire totaled 21.
Gallinari and Stoudemire combined for 21 points in the first quarter, helping the Knicks get out to a 34-27 advantage.
However, the Mavericks dominated the second quarter to move in front. They made 10-of-10 free throws, held a 17-6 rebounding edge, and limited the Knicks to seven field goals.
Dallas opened the quarter with a 10-0 run, during which Barea hit two three- pointers and scored eight points. The teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter, and Jason Terry’s jumper with 23.8 seconds left gave the Mavericks a 56-52 edge at the break.
The Mavericks blew the game apart in the middle of the third quarter with a 21-2 run. Nowitzki scored seven points, while Jason Kidd drilled a pair of threes. DeShawn Stevenson closed the stretch with a make from beyond the arc, giving Dallas an 82-58 advantage.
“We didn’t come out with great energy in the third quarter,” Stoudemire said. “They pretty much got what they wanted. They got open shots and they capitalized on them.”
The Knicks rallied to get within 86-73 heading into the final quarter, but never trimmed their deficit to single digits the rest of the way.
“We got stops in the second half,” Kidd said. “We contested a lot of shots. They took a shot and we rebounded it and then we just ran.”
Game Notes
Kidd finished with 10 assists for the Mavericks, while Stevenson had 13 points. Terry added 12 points off the bench…Raymond Felton had 11 points and nine assists for New York…Dallas held a 54-34 rebounding advantage and shot 50 percent, but committed 16 turnovers.