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Mavs maul Knicks for second straight win

Mar 11, 2008 - 5:21 AM By Royce Wall PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DALLAS (Ticker) -- Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki each scored 18 points as the Dallas Mavericks got off to a fast start and never looked back in a 108-79 rout of the New York Knicks on Monday.

Dallas scored the first 10 points of the game, including five from Nowitzki, to take a lead it would never relinquish. New York finally scored when rookie Wilson Chandler made a layup with 8:25 left in the opening quarter.

"We were able to control the tempo, rebound well, get out on the break and I guess the best thing we did, finish our shots," Mavericks forward Josh Howard said.

Dallas then ran off an 11-2 run to go up 25-9 with 2:25 left in the first.

Dallas made 12-of-19 shots and led 32-15 at the end of the first as newly acquired guard Jason Kidd had six assists in the quarter.

"I was just getting it in rhythm," Terry said. "When you start off with two layups early, that's going to get you going. With J. Kidd out there you always have your head on a swivel in transition. I just took my shots in rhythm."

"He gets them out in transition," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "He gets them a lot of easy baskets. In the first quarter, every time we missed a shot, we came out cold, and every time that we missed a shot, it was a fast-break layup and everything was initiated by Kidd. He's a great player."

If the game was not already over, it was early in the second as the Mavericks opened it up with a 14-4 spurt. The Mavericks were 10-of-20 from the field in the second quarter and led 54-31 at the half.

"They got out early and got a lot of layups and pushed the ball down the court for a lot of easy, transition buckets," Knicks forward Zach Randolph said.

The Knicks showed some life to start the second half, opening the third quarter with a 13-4 run to cut their deficit to 58-44 on Jamal Crawford's jumper with 7:29 left.

Dallas answered the run with a 14-6 burst to go back up 72-50 at the 3:48 mark on Nowitzki's basket and free throw.

"They are a tough team," Randolph said. "They've got a lot of power one through five. They're tough, and Kidd makes them that much better."

Dallas led 80-58 at the end of the third, 93-67 with 6:05 left in the fourth and cruised the rest of the way.

Hosting the Knicks allowed the Mavericks to build on some of the momentum they built in Saturday's 111-91 win over New Jersey.

Dallas has now won two straight following a three-game losing streak and has won the first two games on its four-game homestand.

"This is the time where you want to put it all together and really limit your mistakes," Terry said. "I think we were able to do that the last two games, now have to do it consistently. That's been our problem all year long, not being consistent on both ends of the floor. We're starting to do that now."

Dallas has won 14 of its last 15 games at home and is 27-4 here on the season.

"When we play with the focus we've had the last two outings we're tough to beat," Terry said. "You don't dig yourself a hole, you get off to a good start, you concentrate on the little things like offensive rebounds and not allowing them second-chance points. When you run your offense and score the ball and play the way we like to play. We did that tonight. We established the tempo from the beginning and that made it easy for us."

Randolph scored 21 points for the Knicks, who have lost seven consecutive games and 18 of their last 22.

"They're tough. They got out early and got a lot of layups and pushed the ball down the court and got easy transition buckets," Randolph said. "I actually felt pretty good. I felt better then I thought I would. Once I got the ball, I felt better. I got a little winded, but overall I felt good."