• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Mavs aim to stay perfect against Bobcats

Mar 15, 2012 - 2:42 PM (Sports Network) - The Charlotte Bobcats can't feel all that confident heading into Dallas on Thursday evening.

The Bobcats not only arrive in Big D with an NBA-worst 6-35 mark but they have also never beaten the reigning world champions Mavericks.

Dallas has swept a home-and-home series from Charlotte in each season from 2004-05 through '10-11 and is 14-0 all-time vs. the Bobcats. In fact, Charlotte has never even been able to score 100 points against the Mavericks.

The Mavs got back in the win column on Tuesday, returning home after a dismal 0-3 road trip to top Washington, 107-98. Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points and Jason Terry added 24 off the bench in that one.

Vince Carter chipped in 14 points and Shawn Marion recorded a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds. Rodrigue Beaubois donated 19 points and six boards for the Mavericks, who are 5 1/2 games behind San Antonio in the Southwest Division.

"We got a good win tonight," said Marion. "Everybody contributed and that's what we're going to have to do."

The Mavs, who lost seven on nine games over a 12-day span before topping Washington, are currently deadlocked with Houston for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference, just 1 1/2 games in front of ninth place Minnesota.

The Bobcats, meanwhile, are finishing up a four-game road trip and a two-day tour of Texas tonight.

Charlotte fell to 1-2 on the trek in Houston on Wednesday, tripping against the Rockets 107-87.

Derrick Brown scored 15 points to pace the Bobcats, who were coming off a rare win in New Orleans on Monday but fell to 3-20 as the visitor. Corey Maggette, Gerald Henderson, Byron Mullens and Reggie Williams all added 10 points apiece,

"It's not fair to (Bobcats owner Michael Jordan), or the organization, it's not fair to go out and not really play hard," said Charlotte coach Paul Silas. "We just didn't play tough enough. They really came at us."