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Mavericks edge Lakers

Jan 8, 2014 - 5:06 AM Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points with seven rebounds to help the Dallas Mavericks to a 110-97 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.

Vince Carter chipped in 19 points off the bench for Dallas, which snapped a two-game skid.

Monta Ellis had 16 points with nine assists while DeJuan Blair added 15 points and nine rebounds and Jose Calderon donated 12 points with eight helpers in the win.

"It really was a team effort tonight," said Carter. "We were focused and it was a must-needed game especially with us heading out on the road."

Dallas travels to San Antonio for a matchup against the Spurs on Wednesday and will begin a home-and-home set with the Pelicans in New Orleans on Friday.

Jodie Meeks had a team-high 24 points for the Lakers, who have lost two straight and eight of nine games overall.

Kendall Marshall finished with 18 points and six assists, while Pau Gasol tallied a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds in defeat.

A Carter layup capped the scoring in the first half as the Mavs led 60-53 at the break.

Nowitzki made a jumper at 8:07 of the third to give Dallas its first double- digit lead of the contest, 70-60.

The Lakers, however, wouldn't go away as Robert Sacre knocked down a jumper and Wesley Johnson hit a 3 to cut the deficit in half.

Dallas pushed the lead to 83-72 following a Carter trey at 2:55, but the Lakers closed to 85-77 when Meeks hit two free throws to end the quarter.

Meeks cut the deficit to four, 89-85, after he buried a triple with 8:23 remaining in the game, but Dallas seized control from there.

Ellis scored the final 10 points of a 12-3 spurt that gave the Mavs a 101-88 lead just past the midway point of the fourth which sealed it for the hosts.

LA couldn't trim the margin to single digits the rest of the way as the visitors made just 7-of-25 attempts (28 percent) from the field in the final frame.

"We have to get this team healthy," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said of how the team can turn it around. "We have to get some guys back and some bodies back. These guys are playing hard. They're giving a lot and hanging in there."

Dallas and LA played a tightly contested first quarter with the two teams playing to four ties and 12 lead changes. Carter hit a 3 with 4.8 seconds left to give the Mavericks a slim 33-31 margin heading to the second.

Game Notes

It was the second straight win for the Mavs over LA after they took a 123-104 decision on Nov. 5 at home ... Dallas shot 48-for-90 (53.3 percent) from the field ... Johnson scored 17 points ... Sacre finished with seven points and 10 boards ... Dallas outscored LA 58-32 in the paint.