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Mavs top the lowly Wizards

Feb 27, 2011 - 7:02 AM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Jason Terry scored 25 points and Tyson Chandler supplied a season-high 23 to go along with 13 rebounds as Dallas fought off Washington, 105-99, at Verizon Center.

Dirk Nowitzki supplied 21 points and seven boards, while Jason Kidd scored only three points but handed out a game-best 14 assists and pulled down eight rebounds for the Mavericks, who have won five in a row and 15 of their last 16 contests.

John Wall scored 24 points, handed out five assists and hauled in five caroms and Rashard Lewis added 13 points for the Wizards, who have dropped five straight and six out of seven.

The Wizards played for a second straight game without forward/center Andray Blatche, who is sidelined with a right hip strain.

Wall hit two layups but could not convert them into three-point plays leaving the Wizards down 97-95 before Jordan Crawford's jumper then got the game even with 1:36 to play.

Chandler's follow-up bucket put the Mavs back in the lead for good 19 ticks later. Following a Wall turnover, Nowitzki was fouled on a left-corner three- point shot and sank two free throws to make it a four-point game with 45 ticks to go.

"I really wanted to get involved because coming out of the All-Star break it's a stretch now where we really have to get focused," Chandler said. "We're really making our playoff push."

After two free throws by Terry, Wall's driving layup trimmed the margin to 103-99 with 32 seconds to play. Terry then hit 1-of-2 at the line and, when Wall and McGee subsequently missed from close range, the Wizards had exhausted their last best hope.

"It's frustrating to miss free throws," Wall said. "Throughout the whole second half I think we were 3-for-10 from the free throw line. You can't do that against a very good team."

Down by 10, Washington scored the first nine points in the third period before Dallas answered with a 10-2 run to extend the lead back to 69-60. The Mavs lead grew to as many as 11 before the Wizards ran off seven straight to make it a four-point game with under a minute left.

Two Shawn Marion free throws gave the hosts a 78-72 edge heading into the final stanza.

The Wizards jumped out to a 12-9 lead before the Mavs scored 12 of the next 15 points to take a six-point lead with 3:47 to go in the period. Young's driving layup with 53 ticks left trimmed the Dallas advantage to 23-22 after the first 12 minutes.

Trailing 40-38, Dallas embarked on a 19-4 surge to grab a 57-44 lead with less than 40 seconds to go before the break. Wall just beat the buzzer with a three to make it a 59-49 game at the intermission.

Game Notes

Terry was 10-of-18 from the floor and had four assists...Chandler was 10-of-14 from the field as Dallas shot 48 percent...Marion ended with 13 points and 10 boards, while J.J. Barea supplied nine points off the bench in the win, the fifth for the Mavs in the last six meetings...Wall connected on only 11-of-26 shots. Nick Young scored 14 for the Wizards, who also got 10 points in reserve from Crawford...Dallas made 21-of-31 foul shots, while the Wizards were just 6-for-16...The Mavericks had 28 assists on 39 made buckets.