Mavs beat Hornets despite season-low 10 from Dirk

[December 15, 2009]  DALLAS (AP) -- J.J. Barea scored a season-high 23 points and Dirk Nowitzki scored four of his season-low 10 points in the final 59 seconds, sending the Dallas Mavericks to a 94-90 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Monday night.

Barea scored 19 points in the first half, helping Dallas build an early 21-point lead. Then New Orleans coach Jeff Bower benched all his starters except Chris Paul and the Hornets got aggressive on both ends of the court. They tied it at 60 and kept clawing back, even after the Mavericks were back ahead 90-83 when Nowitzki made a 20-footer in the final minute.

But Paul and Darius Songaila made things interesting to the end. It took Nowitzki's left-handed layup off an inbounds pass and two free throws by Jason Terry with 12.9 seconds left to seal Dallas' fourth straight victory and New Orleans' second straight loss.

Paul had 20 points, 16 assists and five steals. Songaila tied a season high with 12 points while playing only the fourth quarter.

Nowitzki came in fifth in the NBA at 27.3 points per game and was averaging 31.5 over his last four. But David West and the Hornets seem to have him figured out; Nowitzki's previous low of 12 points came in an overtime loss to New Orleans in early November.

He made a basket in the opening minutes, then didn't have another point going into the fourth quarter. His two points matched his two turnovers. But he opened the final period with a drive that led to two free throws, a layup and then his two key baskets down the stretch. He finished 4 of 11 from the field with only those two free throws all game.

Josh Howard returned from a game off to rest a recovering ankle injury and scored 14 points for the Mavericks. Jason Kidd had 13 points and 13 assists, Terry scored 12 points and Shawn Marion had 10.

West scored 11 points and James Posey had 10, including a 3-pointer with 49.6 seconds left that made it 90-86.

The Hornets were coming off a home loss to the New York Knicks in which they gave up an 18-0, game-ending run. Despite some extra work on defense during their morning shootaround, they barely protected the lane in the first 14 minutes, giving up runs of 10-0 and 11-0 to fall behind 39-18.

Bower benched starters Peja Stojakovic, Emeka Okafor and Devin Brown the entire second quarter, and only let West play the first 2:13. Paul was the only starter he trusted with his reserves and they held Dallas to 10 points the rest of the half. The Mavs committed nine turnovers in the second quarter after just one in the first.

The Mavs finished with 23 turnovers, five more than their previous worst this season.

NOTES: Hornets F Ike Diogu, already ruled out for the season, will undergo microfracture surgery on his left knee Tuesday. ... New Orleans' only lead was 2-0. ... Dallas went from 35 points in the first quarter to 14 in the second.

[Associated Press; By JAIME ARON]

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