Mavericks manhandle Magic

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[March 02, 2016]  DALLAS -- Following the blueprint to their season-high, six-game homestand to perfection, the Dallas Mavericks secured another blowout of a lottery-bound opponent.

A 121-108 victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday at American Airlines Center was Dallas' fourth win in five games, the third win in which the Mavericks built a 20-point lead. They close out the homestand Friday against the struggling Sacramento Kings, a team they have beaten at home 22 consecutive times dating back to 2004.

"We are moving it (the ball) well, we are playing unselfishly and our shot-making has been good," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "It's not because of our rebounding, I can tell you that. That is an area we just have to continue to harp on, for lack of term to sugarcoat it. We just have to continue to work on it, and it's going to be an even bigger challenge on Thursday with (Kings center DeMarcus) Cousins coming in here."

Previously on this homestand, the Mavs buried the Philadelphia 76ers by 26 points and trounced the Minnesota Timberwolves by 27. They squeaked out an overtime win against the Denver Nuggets, while their only loss came against the Oklahoma City Thunder, also the lone visitor during the homestand that has a winning record.

The victories are crucial because Dallas is in a pitched battle with the surging Portland Trail Blazers for the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference playoff race while desperately trying to close the gap on the Memphis Grizzlies, the team that currently holds the coveted No. 5 seed.

Against the defensively challenged Magic, Dallas used an 11-0 run in the opening six minutes of the third quarter to blow open a game they led by just eight points at halftime. The margin eventually reached 21 before the Mavericks rode a 96-81 cushion into the fourth quarter.

"It's been more than troubling for the last two months, and now we're in the next month," Magic coach Scott Skiles said of his team's defensive woes. "And we just had so many breakdowns all over the place. Had a poor first half, and an even worse second half, so that's a bad sign. We were able to stay within at least a decent distance, and then we felt like they started the (second) half kind of flat. Unfortunately, so did we, so we weren't able to take advantage of it."

Orlando missed its first eight shots of the third quarter and made just eight of 24 in the period, including going 2-for-14 from the 3-point range. But it was mostly the shortcomings at the other end of the floor that the Magic were focused on after the game.

"We gave up a lot of easy layups," Magic forward Ersan Ilyasova said. "When you play against a team like this, you have to be in the paint and not give up easy layups. They're going to make tough shots."

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The Mavs (33-28) shot 55.8 percent on the night. They got a team-high 21 points from guard Wesley Matthews, who had been struggling of late and was just 1-for-4 from 3-point range but 8-for-12 overall. Forward Dirk Nowitzki scored 19 points in 27 minutes, forward Chandler Parsons had 17, center Zaza Pachulia put in 17 points and 10 rebounds, and guard J.J. Barea came off the bench to score 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

"If I'm not shooting well, I am going to convince myself that I'm going to make it and get out of the slump by making it," Matthews said.

Dallas led 69-61 at halftime, although the Mavs probably felt as if the cushion should have been larger considering they shot 64.9 percent from the floor in the first half, including knocking down five of eight from 3-point range.

Orlando (26-33) bolted out to a 22-12 lead before getting outscored 23-5 to close the first quarter. The Magic fell behind by as many as 10 in the second quarter but stayed within striking range at halftime by shooting 50 percent from the floor (24-for-48) in the first half.

Ilyasova finished with a game-high 22 points off the bench and added 10 rebounds. Center Nikola Vucevic had 18 points, but all of those came in the first half. Guard Elfrid Payton, guard Brandon Jennings and center Dewayne Dedmon had 12 points apiece.

NOTES: The Orlando Magic are expected to aggressively pursue Mavericks F Chandler Parsons, who grew up in Orlando, this summer if Parsons opts out of his contract as expected, according to an ESPN report. ... Since the All-Star break, the Mavericks lead the league in 3-point attempts and 3-pointers made. ... F Dirk Nowitzki moved into 33rd place on the NBA's all-time rebounding list during Monday's game, passing Bill Laimbeer. ... Magic F Evan Fournier missed his second consecutive game because of a sore right wrist injury. The hope is he will be ready to play by Friday. Mario Hezonja made the second start of his career in Fournier's place. ... On Feb. 19 at Orlando, the Magic snapped a seven-game losing streak to Dallas dating back to Jan. 8, 2011. ... The Magic return home for the second game of a back-to-back Wednesday against the Chicago Bulls.

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