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Mavericks blow lead, recover to beat Pistons

Mar 9, 2013 - 3:43 AM Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - O.J. Mayo led seven Dallas players in double figures with 22 points, and the Mavericks wasted a 15-point fourth- quarter lead, but topped the Detroit Pistons, 102-99, Friday night.

Brandan Wright chipped in 14 points, while Dirk Nowitzki and Mike James each chipped in 12 points. Nowitzki hit the go-ahead jumper with 2:08 remaining, as the Mavericks won for the third time in four games.

Brandon Knight had 21 points for the Pistons, losers of four in a row and seven of eight.

Charlie Villanueva, who scored 12, had a chance to force overtime, but his left corner 3-pointer clanked off the rim as time expired.

"We didn't do a good job when they made their run in the fourth, but we held on," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "If you do good things in the course of a game the basketball gods are sometimes good to you."

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Vince Carter widened Dallas' lead to 88-73 with 9:44 remaining, but later the Pistons started a big comeback thanks to Khris Middleton. The rookie forward began an 11-1 run with a jumper and he hit a pair of 3-pointers during the flurry. Middleton ended it by draining a right corner 3-pointer for a 97-96 Detroit edge with 2:29 left.

Nowitzki then canned a right wing fadeaway shot and followed that with a 15- foot left wing shot after Middleton misfired.

Villanueva scored off a tip-in of a missed 3-ball from Jose Calderon with six seconds left for a 100-99 margin, and Darren Collison's two free throws set up the finish.

"I thought our guys took the challenge in the second half and came back much better defensively," Pistons coach Brian Hill said. "We got a couple of good looks at the end. The plays leading up to that hurt us the most."

Hill was talking about missed 3-pointers from Villanueva and Calderon in a four-second span with under 10 ticks remaining.

Hill was coaching his second straight game in place of Lawrence Frank (family reasons).

Middleton had a career-high in points with 14 and rebounds (five). Greg Monroe had 14 points and 10 rebounds in his return for the Pistons. He missed Wednesday's loss to the Knicks due to a sprained left ankle.

Dallas led 22-17 after one quarter and upped that margin to 50-42 at halftime. The Mavs were up as many as 10 in the third and settled for a 76-71 edge going into the fourth.

Game Notes

The Mavericks, who went 11-of-22 from beyond the arc, have made at least nine 3-pointers in each of their last four games. Mayo and James combined to go 9- of-15 ... Collison had 11 points, while Carter and Chris Kaman each had 10 ... Dallas has won eight of the last nine meetings ... Detroit has lost five in a row at home.