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Nowitzki leads as Mavericks crush Heat

Feb 1, 2009 - 4:17 AM By Christopher Stock PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MIAMI (Ticker) -- Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points and Jason Terry added 20 to lead the Dallas Mavericks past the Miami Heat, 111-96, on Saturday.

Josh Howard chipped in 15 points for Dallas, which has won nine straight between the two teams - not including falling to Miami in the 2006 NBA Finals.

"At some point you have to get over it," Nowitzki said. "I'll always think about that week we had here in the Finals. Sometimes I wish I could take that whole week back and try it again, but you can't, and we all have to move forward."

Nowitzki was extremely efficient, making 12-of-14 from the floor and all five of his free-throw attempts. He also grabbed seven rebounds.

"Because he is so great, I think we take him for granted sometimes," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "He made 12-of-14 against a top defensive team look pretty easy."

Dallas (27-19) controlled the first half, leading by as many as 12 points after Jose Juan Barea's 3-pointer made it 43-31 midway through the second quarter. Dallas took a 57-49 lead into the break after shooting 63 percent in the half.

The Mavericks began to pull away in the third as they went on a pivotal 8-0 run in a 1:20 span to take an 83-65 lead. Their largest lead was 23 points in the fourth.

"Early in the season, we've gotten up by double digits and we've let teams back in," said Mavericks guard Jason Kidd, who dished out 11 assists. "Against Golden State on Wednesday, we got up by double digits and we kept it there, and tonight we did the same thing."

Dallas shot 60 percent (47-of-78) from the floor, compared 45.5 percent (35-of-77) for Miami.

"They're a very good, efficient, (offense and) explosive shooting team," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "When they start making shots, you can tell it starts to build their confidence and then they feel like they can make anything."

The Heat were led by Dwyane Wade, who scored 30 points on 13-of-23 shooting. Rookie Michael Beasley had 18 and 10 rebounds.

"This team (Dallas) still remembers what we did in the Finals," Wade said. "I want them to remember."