Jerry Stackhouse scored 16 of his 23 points in the final quarter and the Dallas Mavericks withstood a rally by the Miami Heat for a 99-93 win on Sunday in the first matchup between the teams since last season's NBA finals.
Josh Howard had 25 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Dallas, which improved its NBA-best record to 34-8 and won for the 20th time in its last 21 games.
Dwyane Wade finished with 31 points, six rebounds and six assists for Miami, but missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds left. Jason Williams had 17 points and Udonis Haslem -- who missed his first eight shots -- had 15 for the Heat.
The Heat were down by 13 early in the second half and their chances clearly didn't look good, especially with Shaquille O'Neal inactive for the 34th straight game because of his surgically repaired knee and Wade hobbling around after spraining his ankle by stepping on Nowitzki's foot late in the first quarter.
But Miami somehow pulled into a 90-all tie with just more than three minutes remaining.
Spurs 99, 76ers 85
At Philadelphia, Tim Duncan had 17 points and 15 rebounds and Brent Barry scored 23 points as San Antonio never trailed and coasted to its sixth win in eight games.
Robert Horry and Manu Ginobili added 12 points apiece for the Spurs.
Andre Iguodala led Philadelphia with 20 points and Steven Hunter had 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. The Sixers dropped to 3-14 against Western Conference teams.
Suns 131, Timberwolves 102
At Phoenix, Shawn Marion had 17 points and 20 rebounds, then sat out the fourth quarter as Phoenix won its 13th straight.
The Suns became the eighth team in NBA history to have two winning streaks of at least 13 games in a season. Phoenix won a franchise-record 15 straight from Nov. 20 to Dec. 19.
Minnesota was without its top two scorers, Kevin Garnett and Ricky Davis, who were both serving one-game suspensions. Garnett was suspended for the game by the NBA for throwing a punch at Detroit's Antonio McDyess.
Randy Foye led Minnesota with 25 points, including 5-for-6 on 3-pointers. Troy Hudson added 22 points and Trenton Hassell 20.
Amare Stoudemire scored 25 points on 11-for-14 shooting as the Suns improved to 31-3 since starting the season 1-5. Steve Nash had 16 points and 11 assists and Leandro Barbosa added 20 points for the Suns.
Trail Blazers 99, Bucks 95
At Portland, Oregon, rookie Brandon Roy had a career-high 28 points including a late jumper that helped preserve Portland's victory over short-handed Milwaukee.
Zach Randolph added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who led by as many as 20 points but let the Bucks inch their way back in the fourth quarter.
Earl Boykins had 28 points for the Bucks, who had just 10 healthy players.
Roy's first rally stopper came with 2:25 left, when he made a 3-pointer that put Portland up 93-87. Boykins then made a 3-pointer with 36.6 seconds left to close the Bucks to 96-93 and Roy answered with a jumper.
Charlie Bell's basket narrowed it again for Milwaukee, but Jarrett Jack made the second of two free throws with 5.2 seconds left for the final margin.
Chinese milk partner
The NBA has a new marketing partner -- an Inner Mongolian milk producer.
Hoping to improve its profile in China before next year's Olympics, the NBA announced the deal yesterday with Mengniu Dairy Group.
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