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Kidd moves to 2nd all-time in assists in Mavs' win

Nov 26, 2009 - 5:20 AM By CHRIS DUNCAN AP Sports Writer

HOUSTON(AP) -- Jason Kidd is resigned to the reality that he'll never catch John Stockton's all-time assists record.

He'll have to settle for No. 2 on that list.

Kidd passed Mark Jackson for second place in career assists, Jason Terry scored 27 points and the Dallas Mavericks shot 65.5 percent in a 130-99 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

Kidd delivered seven assists to reach 10,337 in his career. He came in needing five to pass Jackson's career total (10,334), and now trails only Stockton (15,806).

"Some records are meant to stay where they are," Kidd said. "I don't see anybody breaking that any time soon."

Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 and Tim Thomas added a season-high 23 for the Mavericks, who went 9 for 17 from 3-point range. Shawn Marion, who missed the last three games with a sprained left ankle, started and scored 12 in 31 minutes.

Carl Landry scored 24 points for the Rockets, who've lost 14 of their last 18 games against Dallas.

Kidd gave away two turnovers in the first three minutes and the Rockets raced to a 15-2 lead.

Terry, voted the NBA's top reserve last season, checked in with 7:28 left in the first quarter. The Mavericks then hit nine consecutive shots - including four 3-pointers - during a 26-0 spurt to take a 39-25 lead.

"Our start was horrendous," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "The rest of the game was great. Our tempo was perfect."

Nowitzki said the Mavs' defense was more of a catalyst for the run than the offense - Houston missed eight straight shots and committed four turnovers in its scoreless stretch.

"We rotated for each other, took care of the defensive glass," Nowitzki said. "That turned the game around for us."

The Mavericks weren't aware of how many unanswered points they scored until after the game.

"We were just playing," Kidd said. "They had a run right off the bat. And then we went on our run and just kept right on going."

Landry sank two free throws with 11:29 left in the first half, the Rockets' first points in almost six minutes. But Thomas sank a pair of 3-pointers for a 42-27 Dallas lead.

Thomas only made his season debut a week ago after offseason knee surgery. He hit 9 of 13 shots, including four 3-pointers, in Houston.

"Tim played great," Carlisle said. "He brings a playoff mentality to our team, that's evident. He's worked hard to get back to this point, and we're just going to keep bringing him along."

Terry and Thomas scored 15 points apiece in the first half on combined 12-for-14 shooting. The Mavs hit 29 of 42 shots in the half (69 percent), and that was after they missed four of their first five attempts.

"There wasn't any defense," Houston coach Rick Adelman said. "We didn't even get close enough to them to even foul them in the first half. I don't know what happened."

Kidd passed Jackson on the career assists list with an alley-oop pass to Rodrigue Beaubois with 10:53 left in the third quarter.

"The big thing is to just play the game," Kidd said. "The stats and stuff will take care of themselves, and then at the end of your career, you can look back and see what you achieved."

The Mavericks led 68-51 at halftime and started 6 for 11 in the second half to maintain an 18-point cushion. Houston made a mild run, but Thomas dunked over Landry in the last minute of the third quarter for a 91-77 lead.

Terry hit an off-balance shot with 6:45 left to put Dallas up 108-87, its biggest lead to that point. Dallas coach Rick Carlisle used mostly reserves from there, and the Mavs still reached their season-high point total.

"Our start was horrendous," Carlisle said. "The rest of the game was great."

NOTES: Nowitzki deflected a shot by Chuck Hayes in the first quarter and has a block in 10 consecutive games. ... Rockets F Shane Battier has a 3-pointer in 27 consecutive regular-season games, tied for the second-longest streak in franchise history. ... Dallas G Quinton Ross did not travel with the team to Houston after leaving Tuesday's game against Golden State with back soreness. Carlisle said Ross met with doctors on Wednesday and would join the team for its game in Indiana on Friday.