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Mavs continue home dominance of Jazz

Mar 4, 2012 - 5:00 AM Dallas, TX (Sports Network) - Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 40 points and Jason Terry added 22, as Dallas held off Utah, 102-96, to snap a season-high four-game losing streak.

Prior to the game, the Mavericks recalled forward Lamar Odom from the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League. Odom, who had missed Dallas' last four games due to a family matter, was assigned to the Legends Friday, but did not see any action with the team. He had nine points in 18 minutes of court time Saturday.

"Tonight he addressed the team before we went out," Terry said. "That address was guys I need you as much as you need me. We all looked at him and gave him a big hug. He said sorry and said let's go. Then his play tonight spoke louder than those words."

The Mavericks saw a 23-point lead in the fourth whittled to five with under two minutes left before sealing the win on a turnover that led to Terry's breakaway layup.

Paul Millsap had 24 points to pace the Jazz, while Al Jefferson ended with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Derrick Favors scored 14 and C.J. Miles 13 for Utah, which had a two-game winning streak broken.

"They really flooded the paint and they weren't going to let Al get off to a big night," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. "As a result, Paul was able to get some shots on the weak side, coming across and attacking. I thought Derrick did a good job of coming in there, but they really concentrated on getting the ball out of Al's hands or making sure there were two guys on him once he had it."

Utah also lost for the seventh straight time to the Mavs and fell to 3-18 over the last 21 matchups in Dallas.

Vince Carter's three-pointer widened the gap to 80-57 with 10:30 left, but Utah, on the strength of strong shooting (58.3 percent) in the final quarter, made it tight near the end.

Millsap's three-point play cut the difference to 93-88 with 1:41 to go, and the Jazz had a chance to make it a one-possession contest after Terry lost the ball out of bounds. However, a poor pass from Miles led to a steal from Jason Kidd, whose leak-out pass led Terry perfectly for the layup with 53.9 seconds left.

Nowitzki sank four foul shots in the closing minute.

The Mavs held a 24-20 lead after 12 minutes and were up as many as 12 in the second before settling for a 43-36 halftime edge. It was 74-55 moving to the fourth.

Game Notes

Utah has lost five in a row on the road...The Mavericks have held their opponents to under 100 points in 16 of their last 17 games but have gone just 9-8 in that stretch...Utah held a 52-24 scoring cushion in the paint.