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Nowitzki leads Mavs over Nuggets

Feb 9, 2012 - 6:05 AM Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Denver Nuggets 105-95 at Pepsi Center on Wednesday.

Dallas had five players in double figures, including 17 from Vince Carter and 13 points apiece from Shawn Marion and Rodrigue Beaubois as the Mavericks snapped a three-game losing streak.

"When you're dealing with the altitude and all that," said Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle, "we had to have a lot of guys in and out of the game, and a lot of guys contributing and we did and that's the reason we won."

Al Harrington and Rudy Fernandez each scored 17 points, and Ty Lawson added a 16 point, 10 assist performance for the Nuggets, who have lost four straight games, and six of their last seven.

"I don't think we're playing bad basketball, I just don't think we're playing winning basketball," said Nuggets coach George Karl about his team's skid. "I think right now we're doing the [right] things probably 30-35 minutes a game."

The Mavericks trailed only once in the game at 5-3 as they took an early 33-25 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Dallas added to its lead as a Brandan Wright putback layup capped a 10-2 Mavericks run to give them a 49-33 lead with seven minutes to play in the half.

The Nuggets made a 10-1 run late in the second, but Marion's three-pointer put the Mavericks back up double-digits, 64-53.

Denver turned the ball over nine times in the first half, allowing the Mavericks to lead by as many as 17 early on.

Denver got itself back in the game with a 12-2 run that cut the deficit to nine, 87-78, going into the final stanza.

An Aaron Afflalo layup to start the fourth made it a seven-point difference, but the home team would get no closer as Dallas maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the quarter to take home the 10-point victory.

With the game in hand, Nowitzki's jumper with 1:36 to play put him ahead of Adrian Dantley (23,177) for 21st all-time on the NBA scoring list. Nowitzki now has 23,178 career points.

Game Notes

Danilo Gallinari missed his first game after injuring his left foot in Monday's game against Houston. Gallinari is the team's leading scorer averaging 17.0 points per game and is expected to be out for a month...Denver hosts Golden State on Thursday in second of a back-to-back, while Dallas travels to Minnesota on Friday to wrap up a three-game road trip.