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Terry's late three propels Mavericks past Kings

Oct 17, 2007 - 4:08 AM LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (Ticker) -- The Dallas Mavericks may have suffered a bigger loss than the one they handed to the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Mavericks to a wild, 101-99, victory over the Kings in a preseason battle at the Pan American Center.

Jason Terry was the hero, nailing a 3-pointer with four seconds left to provide the final margin. Sacramento, having no timeouts remaining, was unable to even get off a shot as time expired.

Dallas, which never led by more than two points in the contest, received some good minutes from the reigning MVP. Nowitzki played nearly 38 minutes, shooting 7-of-15 from the floor and dishing out five assists.

The game was marred by a scuffle that broke out in the second quarter.

With just over seven minutes remaining in the first half, Kings center Brad Miller and Mavericks rookie Nick Fazekas got tangled up going for a rebound. Thinking he was fouled, Miller retaliated by shoving Mavericks guard Devin Harris to floor as the two were running back up court.

As the two players gathered at mid-court for a heated confrontation, Harris' teammate, Josh Howard, threw a forearm to the back of Miller's neck. Howard was ejected from the contest and may face a suspension at the beginning of the regular season.

Miller remained in the game and finished with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and seven rebounds for the Kings, who shot 49 percent (34-of-70) from the field.

Mike Bibby scored 21 points - including nine in the fourth quarter - and Ron Artest chipped in 19 for Sacramento.

Kings new coach Reggie Theus had a slight home-court advantage as he used to roam the sidelines for New Mexico State, which plays its home games here.

Jerry Stackhouse had 17 points and Terry added 15 for Dallas, which shot 43 percent (32-of-74) and outrebounded Sacramento, 55-43.