Updated

Chris Kaman and O.J. Mayo combined for 44 points on Wednesday and the Dallas Mavericks hung on to defeat the Toronto Raptors, 109-104, at American Airlines Center.

Kaman finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Mayo netted 22 to go with five rebounds and six assists for the Mavericks, who improved to 4-1 on the season. Vince Carter dropped 17 points on his former team and Brandon Wright added 12 points in the triumph.

"We had an opponent that we felt was a little tired having four games in five nights and we felt fresh," Mayo remarked. "For us to be at home in front of our home crowd, we felt we could impose our energy and our effort to get the win."

Andrea Bargnani ended his night with a game-high 25 points and nine rebounds, while DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points with six rebounds and seven assists for the Raptors, who played without Kyle Lowry due to an ankle injury.

Amir Johnson chipped in with 18 points and 11 boards in the setback.

Dallas dominated the first quarter, shooting 60 percent from the floor, as it raced out to a 21-11 advantage with 5:13 left in the frame.

A 14-foot jumper by Bargnani cut the deficit to single digits, but the Mavs held a comfortable 36-24 margin heading into the second quarter.

The Mavericks controlled the second quarter as well. Toronto cut the deficit to nine on three separate occasions, but Dallas kept the Raptors at arms' length and led 61-50 at halftime.

Dallas continued its domination for the duration of the third quarter. The Mavs led by at least 10 until a pair of Bargnani free throws with 2:10 left in the stanza cut the lead to nine.

DeRozan closed the quarter by sinking 1-of-2 from the line for the Raptors, who trailed 82-74 heading into the final 12 minutes of play.

Trailing by 10 with 3:09 to play, the Raptors made it interesting with a mini 7-2 spurt to cut the Dallas lead to 107-102 with exactly one minute to play, but the visitors would not get any closer as the Mavs hung on for the victory.

"I thought our guys did a heck of a job of fighting in the second half," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "The group we had in there, Andrea, DeMar, and Jose (Calderon) played with a purpose and momentum coming in. They really put us in a position to almost win the game after having a slow start. I like what I saw in the second half, but we have to do something about the first quarter."

Game Notes

Dallas is 4-1 for the first time since the 2007-08 season ... The Mavs have won six of their last eight matchups with the Raptors ... Toronto is winless in 12 of its last 13 games in Dallas ... Calderon scored 11 points and handed out six assists for the Raptors ... Dallas guard Darren Collison finished with 15 points.