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Howard, Mavericks continue dominance of Bobcats

Dec 27, 2006 - 6:52 AM DALLAS (Ticker) -- Josh Howard and the Dallas Mavericks continued their dominance of the lowly Charlotte Bobcats.

Howard scored 27 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 23 as the Mavericks' unselfish play sparked a 97-84 victory over the Bobcats.

Devean George added 12 points off the bench for Dallas, which dished out 20 assists to extend its winning streak to six games.

"We're just getting more and more focused," George said. "That's the key. You're going to have some losses during the season but the key is to put spurts and winning streaks together to prepare you for the end of the season.

The Mavericks have won all five meetings in the series, including a 90-76 victory in Charlotte on November 20.

On Tuesday, Howard continued to pace Dallas' free-flowing offense, shooting 10-of-19 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the line to overwhelm the Bobcats.

"I'm just going out there and taking the right shots, trying to find my teammates, make sure to be on the help side of the defense and help get rebounds," Howard said. "I just try to be in the right position in case they need somebody to pass it off to. There's a lot of players on this team that can score the basketball. When I'm open, I'm going to take my shot."

"Josh has been steady. He's been solid," Dallas coach Avery Johnson said. "We don't have any fluctuations there. He's not getting ruffled no matter what happens on the court. Maturity is clicking in right before our eyes."

Trailing, 26-24, after the first quarter, the Mavericks used a 20-9 spurt to make it 44-35 with 3:09 left before halftime. Dallas led the rest of the way.

Recovering well from a sprained ankle suffered in opening quarter of Wednesday's victory at Seattle, Nowitzki was 9-of-15 from the field.

Rookie Adam Morrison scored 17 points for Charlotte, which shot 41 percent (31-of-76).

"We just have to start taking care of business as a team, cause we're in every game," Morrison said. "I'd say it's 65-75 percent of the games we've lost, we've been right in it."