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Rockets edge Mavericks

Jan 30, 2014 - 5:39 AM Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Chandler Parsons scored a team-high 26 points to lead seven Houston players in double figures and the Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks, 117-115, on Wednesday.

Dwight Howard contributed 21 points and Jeremy Lin, who started in place of James Harden, tallied 18 points with seven rebounds and seven assists for Houston, which snapped a two-game losing streak to its Southwest Division rival.

"We played last night and they came in and made some tough shots," Rockets head coach Kevin McHale said. "We found a way to win, which is what we needed to do."

Harden missed his second straight game due to a bruised left thumb he sustained over the weekend against Memphis.

Terrence Jones netted 16 points, Donatas Motiejunas deposited a 12-point, 13- rebound double-double, and Patrick Beverley and Aaron Brooks each chipped in with 11 points in victory

Dirk Nowitzki poured in a game-high 38 points to go along with 17 rebounds in the setback, Dallas' third in its last four games. Vince Carter led a strong bench effort with 22 points, while Devin Harris and DeJuan Blair scored 14 and 13, respectively, in a reserve role.

Brandan Wright made a layup to cut the Dallas deficit to 98-95 with just under eight minutes left and the Rockets stretched the lead courtesy of a 9-0 run. Lin scored on two straight possessions before Beverley capped the run with a trey to give the Rockets a 107-95 lead with 4:36 remaining in the contest.

Dallas then turned to the hack-a-Dwight method, but Houston's big man converted 7-of-8 free throws, with the last pair extending the lead to 114-104. Lin then followed with a layup to push the margin to 12.

The Mavs responded with an 11-1 run to make it a two-point game with 22.7 seconds left. Carter and Harris were each fouled shooting a 3-pointer and both converted all three of their attempts. Carter then buried a 3 and Nowitzki knocked down a pair at the line to cap the run.

Coming out of a timeout, Parsons threw a pass into the backcourt that was deflected by Jose Calderon. Beverley gained control in the far corner, but he quickly lost the ball out of bounds with 19.9 seconds left and Calderon hounding him.

On the ensuing Mavs possession, Calderon missed wide-open look from the top of the key and gathered his own miss after a long rebound. Calderon, though, missed the second attempt with Parsons collapsing onto him and Montiejunas controlled the rebound as time expired.

"It's a lot of the same problems," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle admitted. "Keeping people in front of us and giving up too many layups."

Houston led 32-30 after the first quarter and owned a 63-57 advantage at the break.

Game Notes

Houston shot 41-for-74 from the field ... Dallas was 5-of-19 from beyond the arc ... Shawn Marion and Monta Ellis each scored six points on a combined 6- for-20 shooting ... The Mavs scored 19 points on 18 Houston turnovers.