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NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Dirk Nowitzki heard more cheers than anymembers of the New York Knicks and then put on a show in frontof another disgruntled crowd.
Nowitzki scored a season-high 36 points to lead the DallasMavericks to a 99-89 victory over the Knicks on Monday night atMadison Square Garden.
Josh Howard added 22 points in his first game after Saturday'scareer-high 47-point performance against Utah.
Dallas shot 54 percent (36-of-67) and defeated the Knicks forthe 11th time in 12 meetings after surviving a comeback attemptthat reduced a 23-point lead to 90-83 with just over fourminutes remaining following a basket by Zach Randolph.
"We had a big enough lead and we should have kept it," Dallascoach Avery Johnson said. "The last two minutes of the thirdquarter and (first) two minutes of the fourth was absolutelypathetic and the guys who were in there let the whole team down.We can't afford to do that."
"It was tough, that was on the defensive (end)," Howard said."Dirk's our leader. He's going to go out and score the balllike he did that. It's good to see him do that." That was theclosest the Mavericks came to blowing it. On their nextpossession, Jason Terry made a 16-footer and Howard followedwith a layup that inadvertently knocked Eddy Curry out of thecontest when Howard's hand hit Curry in the face.
New York dropped its third in a row and fell to 6-14 through 20games for the second time in three years. Of its' 14 losses, 10have been by double digits, including the last four and thisone featured coach Isiah Thomas confronting a fan in the secondhalf and blaming the booing for the team's struggles.
"I wanted to make sure our team stayed focused," Thomas saidtrying to downplay it. "The fans are great. We love them andwe're glad they're here."
The loudest cheers during pregame introductions were forNowitzki, who came into the contest averaging 21.1 points pergame. He equaled his average by driving around Curry for aneasy layup on Dallas' first possession of the second half andthen surpassed it with another jumper that put Dallas up by 17before hearing some cheers after hitting a 3-pointer.
Nowitzki turned in his fourth 30-point performance of the seasonand had it with 6:10 remaining after converting a three-pointplay. He continued to hear more cheers after hitting another3-pointer with 4:25 remaining in the quarter.
"He came out with the type of game that we wanted him to havetonight," Johnson said. "We thought playing in the Garden andwe wanted him to come out ready to establish himself and he gotthe ball early. He made some decisive moves and he was realsure about what he was doing."
"I was able to find a rhythm really quick," Nowitzki said. "Inthe last couple of weeks, my jumper didn't really feel great. Ifeel great and I had a lot of lot of really good looks. I prettymuch was in attack mode all night long."
Nowitzki finished 14-of-23 from the floor and added sevenrebounds and four assists. It was his second 30-point game inthree games.
"Tonight he was feeling it and we wanted to keep feeding him,"Terry said.
The latest rounds of loud "Fire Isiah" chants started asNowitzki was making a pair of foul shots for a 60-40 edge with8:55 remaining and the booing continued until the Knicksattempted to rally.
"It comes in slow stages," Thomas said. "I thought we finallygot some tempo, some pace and some ball movement. We were ableto play the style, the tempo and the pace we like to play at."
Nowitzki approached his scoring average in 18 first-half minutesas he scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The 7-footerscored 15 points in the opening quarter when Dallas shot 63percent and took a 28-19 lead.
Dallas did not need Nowitzki to hold its lead as he sat for thefirst five-plus minutes of the second and watched his teammatesopen a double-digit lead. The Mavericks never relinquishedtheir double-digit lead and grabbed a 49-36 edge at halftime.
The Knicks played without Stephon Marbury, who sat out due topersonal reasons following the death of his father on December2. Marbury's teammates were booed during introductions andheard louder boos at the end of a first half in which they shotan awful 29 percent (12-of-41).
Their latest loss came just two days after owner Jim Dolan metwith Thomas and appeared no closer to firing him. It also camehours after the Anucha Browne Sanders case was settled.
Randolph sparked New York's comeback attempt with 17 of his 24points in the fourth. Jamal Crawford added 19 but was 6-of-22from the floor while Curry finished with six points on 3-of-13shooting before needing three stitches on his lacerated lowerlip.
Nowitzki scored a season-high 36 points to lead the DallasMavericks to a 99-89 victory over the Knicks on Monday night atMadison Square Garden.
Josh Howard added 22 points in his first game after Saturday'scareer-high 47-point performance against Utah.
Dallas shot 54 percent (36-of-67) and defeated the Knicks forthe 11th time in 12 meetings after surviving a comeback attemptthat reduced a 23-point lead to 90-83 with just over fourminutes remaining following a basket by Zach Randolph.
"We had a big enough lead and we should have kept it," Dallascoach Avery Johnson said. "The last two minutes of the thirdquarter and (first) two minutes of the fourth was absolutelypathetic and the guys who were in there let the whole team down.We can't afford to do that."
"It was tough, that was on the defensive (end)," Howard said."Dirk's our leader. He's going to go out and score the balllike he did that. It's good to see him do that." That was theclosest the Mavericks came to blowing it. On their nextpossession, Jason Terry made a 16-footer and Howard followedwith a layup that inadvertently knocked Eddy Curry out of thecontest when Howard's hand hit Curry in the face.
New York dropped its third in a row and fell to 6-14 through 20games for the second time in three years. Of its' 14 losses, 10have been by double digits, including the last four and thisone featured coach Isiah Thomas confronting a fan in the secondhalf and blaming the booing for the team's struggles.
"I wanted to make sure our team stayed focused," Thomas saidtrying to downplay it. "The fans are great. We love them andwe're glad they're here."
The loudest cheers during pregame introductions were forNowitzki, who came into the contest averaging 21.1 points pergame. He equaled his average by driving around Curry for aneasy layup on Dallas' first possession of the second half andthen surpassed it with another jumper that put Dallas up by 17before hearing some cheers after hitting a 3-pointer.
Nowitzki turned in his fourth 30-point performance of the seasonand had it with 6:10 remaining after converting a three-pointplay. He continued to hear more cheers after hitting another3-pointer with 4:25 remaining in the quarter.
"He came out with the type of game that we wanted him to havetonight," Johnson said. "We thought playing in the Garden andwe wanted him to come out ready to establish himself and he gotthe ball early. He made some decisive moves and he was realsure about what he was doing."
"I was able to find a rhythm really quick," Nowitzki said. "Inthe last couple of weeks, my jumper didn't really feel great. Ifeel great and I had a lot of lot of really good looks. I prettymuch was in attack mode all night long."
Nowitzki finished 14-of-23 from the floor and added sevenrebounds and four assists. It was his second 30-point game inthree games.
"Tonight he was feeling it and we wanted to keep feeding him,"Terry said.
The latest rounds of loud "Fire Isiah" chants started asNowitzki was making a pair of foul shots for a 60-40 edge with8:55 remaining and the booing continued until the Knicksattempted to rally.
"It comes in slow stages," Thomas said. "I thought we finallygot some tempo, some pace and some ball movement. We were ableto play the style, the tempo and the pace we like to play at."
Nowitzki approached his scoring average in 18 first-half minutesas he scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The 7-footerscored 15 points in the opening quarter when Dallas shot 63percent and took a 28-19 lead.
Dallas did not need Nowitzki to hold its lead as he sat for thefirst five-plus minutes of the second and watched his teammatesopen a double-digit lead. The Mavericks never relinquishedtheir double-digit lead and grabbed a 49-36 edge at halftime.
The Knicks played without Stephon Marbury, who sat out due topersonal reasons following the death of his father on December2. Marbury's teammates were booed during introductions andheard louder boos at the end of a first half in which they shotan awful 29 percent (12-of-41).
Their latest loss came just two days after owner Jim Dolan metwith Thomas and appeared no closer to firing him. It also camehours after the Anucha Browne Sanders case was settled.
Randolph sparked New York's comeback attempt with 17 of his 24points in the fourth. Jamal Crawford added 19 but was 6-of-22from the floor while Curry finished with six points on 3-of-13shooting before needing three stitches on his lacerated lowerlip.
