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Mavericks down Knicks

Mar 7, 2012 - 5:39 AM Dallas, TX (Sports Network) - Dirk Nowitzki paced all scorers with 28 points as the Mavericks held off a late surge from the Knicks to take a 95-85 victory at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

Rodrigue Beaubois came off the bench to score 18, and Jason Kidd added a season-high 15 points to go with six assists for Dallas, which has won two of its last three games.

"We couldn't have won without him," Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle said about Beaubois. "We'd like to win it more comfortably, but that just doesn't seem to be in the cards right now."

Amar'e Stoudemire led the Knicks with 26 points while pulling down seven boards. Jeremy Lin had 14 points and seven assists, and Steve Novak added 13 points off the bench on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range as New York lost its third straight road game.

Dallas used a 16-4 run over the first four-plus minutes of the third to take a 66-47 lead after Nowitzki connected on a three-point play with 7:32 left in the frame.

Nowitzki finished the quarter with 13 points as the Mavericks took a 77-63 lead into the fourth quarter.

It was New York's turn for a run in the fourth as they held Dallas scoreless over the first seven minutes of the third to turn a 14-point deficit into a one-point lead.

Novak started the run with back-to-back threes and Stoudemire capped it with a layup to make it a 78-77 game with just under five minutes remaining.

Nowitzki finally stalled the drought with a jumper, which sparked a 14-0 run for the home team.

Nowitzki had nine in the run, while Kidd added a three-pointer and two from the line to give the Mavericks a decisive 91-78 advantage with two minutes to play.

"They hit shots, we didn't," said Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni about the Mavericks run to close out the game. "Our guys got a little tired, I rode them a little bit. We got up one, then we got down three. I made a switch, switched the other guys back in and kind of fell apart."

A Novak three-pointer brought the Knicks within three, but Dallas responded with a 14-4 run over the final 5:22 of the first to take a 27-15 lead after one.

The lead jumped as high as 17 after two free throws from Beaubois made it a 37-20 contest, but the Knicks reeled off a 12-4 run over the final 3:58 of the half, as they trailed 50-44 heading into the locker room.

Game Notes

The Knicks' Tyson Chandler received his championship ring in his return to Dallas. He finished with six points and eight rebounds...New York continues its four-game road trip in San Antonio on Wednesday, while the Mavericks visit Phoenix on Thursday...New York's Carmelo Anthony finished with six points on 2-of-12 shooting.