Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry led a second-half charge to help the Dallas Mavericks continue their unbeaten run over the Charlotte Bobcats with a 89-84 victory on Monday.
Nowitzki registered a team-high 27 points and Terry put in 20 as the duo combined to score their team’s final 15 points to help the Mavericks (40-21) come from behind to win their eighth straight.
“I thought we were really great defensively in the second half,” Nowitzki told reporters. “We definitely picked up the energy a little bit.”
The victory meant a first eight-game win streak for the Southwest Division leaders since 2007, with Caron Butler returning to the team and scoring 22 points after missing two games because of a bad reaction to medication.
The team is 8-1 since trading for Butler during All-Star weekend.
In their first game since Hall of Famer Michael Jordan agreed to buy the team, the Bobcats built a 12-point lead in the third quarter with their future owner sitting courtside, but they failed to claim what would have been a first victory over the Mavericks.
With the loss, the Bobcats, who are trying to make their first postseason, fell into a tie with the Miami Heat for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
“We’ve got to get past it somehow,” Charlotte guard Raymond Felton said. “We don’t want this to be another season where we could have and we should have. We’ve got to work through the kinks and work through the problems we’re having right now.”
The Bobcats wayward shooting cost them at the end as they closed to four points back with 1:05 left in the game but missed three straight field goal attempts.
Stephen Jackson scored 20 and Tyrus Thomas added 16 and 12 rebounds for Charlotte (28-30), who lost for the fifth time in seven games.
CAVALIERS 124, KNICKS 93
Cleveland showed they don’t plan to let the loss of Shaquille O’Neal slow them down as they pounded New York on the back of a 74-point first half.
LeBron James had 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as the Cavaliers posted their largest margin of victory this NBA season.
Their 74 points in the first half equaled the season-high they set three weeks ago — also against the Knicks.
The Cavs, playing their first game since O’Neal underwent thumb surgery on Monday that is expected to keep him sidelined for the rest of the regular season, out-rebounded New York 60-31 and led by as many as 49 points.
James sat out the entire fourth quarter. Antawn Jamison had 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Anderson Varejao scored 14 points with 10 rebounds and JJ Hickson added 17 points and nine rebounds.
O’Neal, who sprained his right thumb in a game at Boston last Thursday, faces an expected recovery time of eight weeks. The Cavaliers still hope to have him back for at least part of the postseason, which gets underway on April 17.
SUNS 101, NUGGETS 85
In Phoenix, the host’s bench players keyed a second-quarter comeback from a double-digit deficit to beat Denver.
Goran Dragic scored 10 first-half points off the bench and the reserves scored 24 of 33 second-quarter points.
Amare Stoudemire had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who won their fifth straight at home and their sixth in seven games overall. Phoenix has won 10 straight at home against the Nuggets dating to 2003-2004.
HAWKS 116, BULLS 92
In Chicago, Atlanta pulled away after being challenged in the fourth quarter and comfortably beat the home team.
Jamal Crawford scored 21 points and Josh Smith added 17 points and a season-high 18 rebounds for the Hawks, whose 18-point, second-quarter lead was cut to five early in the fourth.
Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 24 points despite missing most of the first quarter after hurting his right knee.
TRAIL BLAZERS 103, GRIZZLIES 93
In Memphis, Tennessee, Portland erased a 14-point first-half deficit with a strong third quarter as they defeated Memphis.
Brandon Roy scored 25 points and Nicolas Batum added 21 as the Trail Blazers ended their five-game road trip with four victories.
They also solidified their hold on the Western Conference’s eighth playoff spot. The win was the seventh straight road win for Portland over the Grizzlies. Meanwhile, Memphis’ home losing streak hit seven.
Zach Randolph led the Grizzlies with 22 points.
SPURS 106, HORNETS 92
In New Orleans, George Hill scored 23 points to lead San Antonio over the hosts.
Tim Duncan added 22 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs, who shot 51 percent and led by 20 in the third quarter before holding on without much drama.
Hornets rookie Marcus Thornton was 6 of 7 from three-point range, setting a career high for threes in a game, and scored 30 points.
MAGIC 126, 76ERS 105
In Philadelphia, Jameer Nelson had 22 points and 10 assists as Orlando downed the home team.
All five starters scored at least 14 points for the Magic. They reached the 100-point mark late in the third quarter and kept the pressure on in the fourth to match their highest point total of the season.
Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis each scored 19 points. The Sixers played without Elton Brand and Allen Iverson.
CLIPPERS 108, JAZZ 104
In Los Angeles, the hosts nearly blew a 17-point lead in the final 6 minutes before beating Utah.
In Monday’s other game, it was:
● Rockets 116, Raptors 92
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