The Chicago Bulls put the brakes on Dallas' recent run of red-hot form on Thursday, ending the Mavericks eight-game winning streak with a 96-85 victory.
Dallas (35-9) lost for just the second time in their last 23 games after the Bulls, who almost squandered a 17-point lead at one point, pulled away in the fourth quarter.
Ben Gordon scored 30 points and Luol Deng added 21 as the Bulls finally put one over on the Mavericks.
Kirk Hinrich had 15 points and grabbed eight boards and PJ Brown added 12 and nine for Chicago.
Gordon, who had just 12 points in a 94-86 win against Atlanta on Tuesday, shot 12-of-23 from the floor for Chicago, which bolted out to a 23-6 first quarter lead and never trailed in the game.
Chicago (25-19) had lost 16 of its previous 17 meetings with Dallas dating back to March 12, 1998, including all seven games at the United Center between the two teams during that time.
But on this occasion, the Bulls held Dallas to just 31 percent shooting from the field, while shooting 43 percent themselves, to move to within a game of the first-place Detroit Pistons in the Central Division.
Dirk Nowitzki had 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Mavericks, but was just 7-for-22 from the field.
Jerry Stackhouse added 16 points for Dallas.
In Los Angeles, Cuttino Mobley hit the winning 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left, giving the Clippers a 102-101 win over the New Jersey Nets. Vince Carter had 33 points for the Nets.
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