Nowitzki and Marion lead Mavs over Rockets

Dallas, TX – Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion netted 22 points apiece in the Dallas Mavericks' 112-108 win over the Houston Rockets.

O.J. Mayo added 13 points, a career-high 12 assists and six rebounds for Dallas, which had dropped four of its last five contests coming in.

The Mavericks have won six in a row against Houston in Big D and improved to 23-2 when Nowitzki scores at least 15 points.

James Harden was 16-of-16 from the line and finished with 28 points for the Rockets, who had won four of their past six tilts prior to the opening tip.

"Harden had a lot of points, but at the end of the game Shawn (Marion) was the guy who got the key stops," Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle said.

Houston trailed by as many as 11 in the third, but a Harden 3-pointer at the top of the key gave the Rockets their first lead, 104-102, since the latter stages of the second with 3:41 to go in the fourth.

Mayo quickly answered with a triple and jumper on back-to-back Dallas possessions before Nowitzki knocked down a jumper to give the Mavs a 109-104 edge with 1:51 remaining.

Four straight Harden foul shots pulled the visitors within a point, and the Rockets regained possession down 110-108 with 49.9 to go after Marion split a pair from the stripe.

Harden came up short on a step-back trey with 28.5 ticks on the clock, but Houston got the ball back after it went out of bounds off Dallas. But Harden's ensuing drive at the hoop was defended well by Brandan Wright and Darren Collison sunk two foul shots to seal the win for the Mavs.

"I thought we put ourselves in a position to win. It's one that we let slip away," Houston forward Chandler Parsons, who scored a career-high 32 against Dallas Sunday, said.

Dallas jumped out to a 34-25 advantage after one before the Rockets outscored the Mavs 31-26 in the second to head into the break down, 60-56. Dallas headed into the fourth with an 87-83 cushion.

Game Notes

Dallas turned the ball over just 11 times and recorded 35 assists on 45 made field goals ... Vince Carter added 16 points and seven boards off the bench for the Mavs.