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Houston's problem: Ellis, Nowitzki spark Mavs' comeback win

Nov 21, 2013 - 6:58 AM Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Monta Ellis scored a season-high 37 points with eight assists and Dirk Nowitzki scored 14 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 123-120 comeback win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

Shawn Marion and Jose Calderon each netted 13 points for Dallas, which maintained its perfection at home.

The Mavericks trailed 101-87 after three quarters but Nowitzki and Ellis spearheaded a monster come back in the final stanza to extend Dallas' winning streak to three games.

"Dirk and Ellis were great all night," said Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle. "Both guys were attacking, they were playing well off each other, they were getting other people the ball."

Dwight Howard scored a season-high 33 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the field, including 9-of-13 from the foul line, and grabbed 11 rebounds, and James Harden chipped in with 23 points and eight assists.

Dallas opened the first 5:11 of the final quarter on a 14-3 run. Nowitzki scored the first six points of the stanza and Ellis capped the burst with back-to-back buckets.

A Howard free throw put the Rockets up 119-114 with 2:04 remaining in the game and the Mavericks answered with a 7-0 run, which put them in front for the first time since the opening minute of the game.

After a Nowitzki jumper, the 7-footer blocked Howard with 1:24 left, collected the rebound, passed it up to Ellis, who found Marion at the other end for a dunk to pull Dallas within one, 119-118.

Following a Chandler Parsons miss, Ellis found Marion again for a 3-pointer which put the home team out in front, 121-119 with 47.9 seconds to go.

Harden then drove the lane with 9.0 seconds left and was fouled by Samuel Dalembert, but he missed 1-of-2 free throws with the opportunity to tie the game.

Calderon made a pair of free throws with 6.7 seconds left and Harden's final 3-point attempt to tie went short as the Mavericks ended the game on an 11-2 run to finish off the comeback. The win also snapped Houston's three-game win streak.

"We never could get a handle on them," said Rockets head coach Kevin McHale. "We had a lead in the fourth quarter again. We just couldn't get them stopped the whole game. Dirk and Ellis got what they wanted."

The Rockets opened the game 8-for-8 from the field in the first four minutes to jump out to a 20-12 lead. The hot start helped them to a 40-29 advantage after the first.

Dallas trimmed the deficit to seven, 68-61, at the break.

Parsons finished with 21 points and 11 helpers while Omri Casspi scored 11 points off the bench on 5-of-5 shooting.

Game Notes

Howard opened 11-for-11 from the field before his first miss with 8:18 left in the fourth ... Dallas tied the season series up at one after losing 113-105 Nov. 1 ... Dallas shot 50 percent (11-for-22) from 3-point range while Houston shot 38.7 percent (12-for-31) ... The Rockets welcome Minnesota to Houston on Saturday ... Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand against Utah on Friday.