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Nowitzki, Mavs seek 14th consecutive in over Sonics

Apr 13, 2008 - 2:00 PM Dallas (50-30) at Seattle (18-62) 9:00 pm EDT

SEATTLE (Ticker) - Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks look to bounce back against the Seattle SuperSonics on Sunday night.

Despite getting 28 points from Nowitzki, Dallas came out on the short end of things with Saturday's hard-fought 108-105 setback to the Portland Trail Blazers.

With the loss, the Mavericks all but assured themselves of the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs, one year after securing the top spot With a 67-15 record.

"It doesn't even matter ... once your in, you're in," Mavs guard Jason Terry said. "We just want to be playing well going in. It didn't happen but we will bounce back (in Seattle)."

The Mavericks are also aiming for their 14 straight win over the Sonics, who haven't won in the series since December 9, 2004.

Rookie Kevin Durant carried the load with 20 points for Seattle in a 95-74 loss to the defending San Antonio Spurs in the finale of a three-game road trip through Texas on Friday.

"I think the first half we played very hard," Durant said. "I think they just came back and hit us in the mouth at the beginning of the second half and we couldn't come back."

The 6-9 Durant has struggled in his first season against Dallas, posting just 12.3 points while shooting 31 percent in the first three meetings.

On Tuesday, Terry scored 22 points to lead the Mavs to a 99-83 win over the Sonics.