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Saturday, Feb. 3 8:00pm ET
Mavs record seventh straight win over Warriors

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

DALLAS (AP) -- The Golden State Warriors made the Mavericks sweat a little before Dallas was able to secure its 30th victory.

Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points and nine rebounds and Howard Eisley had 20 points and eight assists while starting at point guard as the much-improved Mavericks held off the Warriors' late charge for a 101-95 victory Saturday night.

"If this was a year ago, I don't think we'd be sitting here with the win," said acting Mavericks coach Donn Nelson. "There's no question about that. We should beat these teams at home, but we are young. We get fired up for the Miamis of the world, but sometimes we get caught off guard when the Golden States of the world come in here."

The Mavericks survived despite an off-game from top scorer Michael Finley, who finished with seven points -- 14.7 under his season average.

"Other guys have been stepping up a lot lately," Mavericks center Christian Laettner said. "Michael struggled tonight and we won. We're showing that we can be an all-around good team and pick up the slack when our stars have off nights."

After trailing by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter, Golden State pulled to 99-91 with 1:25 left on rookie Marc Jackson's three-point play.

But Nowitzki hit two free throws with 1:08 left to close out the Warriors as the Mavericks improved to 30-18, their best record after 48 games since going 31-17 in 1987-88.

"We always talk about how we have a deep team," Nowitzki said after Dallas got 31 points from its reserves. "Everybody stepped up tonight and the bench has stepped up in the last few games. We really needed them tonight."

Eisley, subbing for injured starter Steve Nash, moved from shooting guard as Nash missed the game with a recurring left hamstring injury.

Hubert Davis and Laettner added 15 points each for the Mavericks, who won for the sixth time in their last eight games.

The Mavericks have beaten the Warriors in seven straight meetings.

Bob Sura scored 28 points, Jackson had 27 and Antawn Jamison 16 to pace the Warriors, who lost their fourth in a row and fell to 5-18 on the road.

The Mavericks opened the fourth quarter with Greg Buckner's three-point play and two free throws from Nowitzki for a 79-68 advantage.

A 13-4 spurt capped by consecutive 3-pointers from Davis extended the Mavericks' lead to 94-76 with 5:53 to play.

Davis connected on three 3-pointers over a span of 1:36 in the fourth quarter to help the Mavericks lead by as many as 20.

"They were doubling Dirk (Nowitzki) and doubling Mike (Finley) and we had good matchups down low," Davis said. "So we swung the ball around and I was able to knock down some open shots."

The Mavericks finished the third quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 74-68 lead into the final quarter.

Golden State held a 52-50 halftime lead despite Jamison going scoreless for the game's first 18:09. Jackson had 16 first-half points, Sura added 15, and Jamison finished the second quarter strong with nine points.

Jamison started the night averaging a team-high 25 points per game, but the Mavericks' consistent double-teaming forced the ball out of his hands.

"Anytime you play against Dallas, they're going to try to take away your bread and butter," Jamison said. "They double-teamed me a lot. They did a good job of that."

Game notes
The Warriors were minus starting guard Larry Hughes, who was out with a recurring right thumb injury. ...To replace Nash, Nelson moved Eisley to point guard, Finley from small forward to shooting guard and inserted Gary Trent into the starting lineup at forward. .. Golden State coach Dave Cowens started Jackson in place of Hughes. ...Laettner hit his first 3-pointer of the season in the third quarter. "I wanted to show that Dirk (Nowitzki) isn't the only big guy who can shoot it," Laettner said.


ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

Golden State Clubhouse

Dallas Clubhouse

RECAPS
Minnesota 108
Toronto 105

Denver 105
Washington 100

Detroit 88
Cleveland 81

Orlando 96
Atlanta 84

Dallas 101
Golden State 95

Milwaukee 104
Indiana 85

San Antonio 90
Houston 88

Utah 111
Seattle 91

Vancouver 91
Chicago 84

LA Clippers 90
Portland 89

FROM
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Antawn Jamison Official Site


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