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Mavericks hope to snap long skid

Nov 16, 2008 - 8:20 AM Dallas (2-7) at New York (6-3), 6:00 p.m. EST

NEW YORK (Ticker) -- It has been a long time since the Dallas Mavericks have had to deal with this much losing.

The Mavericks hope to avoid dropping a sixth straight game on Sunday when they visit the New York Knicks.

Under new coach Rick Carlisle, Dallas is off to its worst nine-game start since it began 1-8 during the 1998-99 campaign.

The losing streak is the longest since the Mavericks lost six straight from February 29-March 9, 2000.

Dallas blew a 10-point halftime lead en route to a 102-100 setback to Orlando on Friday - the first home loss to the Magic since 1997. Josh Howard had 25 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 24 in the defeat.

Meanwhile, the Knicks are off to one of their best starts in recent years.

Coming off their seventh consecutive losing season, the Knicks have transformed into a run-and-gun team under new coach Mike D'Antoni. New York leads the league in scoring at 104.8 points per contest.

Zach Randolph had 29 points and 19 rebounds and Jamal Crawford also scored 29 as the Knicks posted a 116-106 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.