Dallas, TX – Mike James and Dirk Nowitzki scored 19 and 17 points, respectively, as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Utah Jazz, 113-108, on Sunday.
Seven Dallas players scored double-digits. Shawn Marion and Vince Carter scored 15 points apiece. Darren Collison tallied 13 points off the bench while O.J. Mayo and Elton Brand each had 10 points for the Mavericks, who have won three of their last four games.
"Mike [James] played well. ... He has a great enthusiasm for the game," said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. "He competes. He's a competitor. We basically got him off the street in January."
Enes Kanter scored 17 points off the bench for the Jazz, who have racked up a four-game losing streak. Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson scored 15 points apiece, with Millsap grabbing nine boards in the setback.
"We can't get the games back that we lost," said Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin. "We need to learn lessons from it. But we have to find a way to get better."
Both teams are now two games behind the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference.
At halftime, Dallas had a 53-52 lead.
Most of the third quarter was competitive, as the two teams changed leads 11 times and tied three times.
However, tied at 69, Carter sank both of his free throws to start a 14-2 surge over the remainder of the period and the Mavs had am 83-71 advantage. James scored seven points during the run and had 12 points in the quarter.
In the fourth, Utah slowly came back, as they scored 37 points on 56.5 percent shooting.
Down 111-103 with 9.9 seconds remaining in regulation, Alec Burks made a driving layup.
One second later, James threw a bad pass, allowing Gordon Hayward to make a layup. He was fouled by James and made the lone free throw to cut the deficit to 111-108 with just 7.3 seconds left.
It would not be enough, though, as Collison drew a foul off DeMarre Carroll and sank both of his free throws to seal the win.
Jefferson powered the Jazz in the first quarter, scoring 11 points, as Utah led 27-24 entering the second.
Utah extended its lead by as much as seven points, 42-35, midway through the period, but Dallas would come back. Nowitzki made the final score of the half, a 12-footer with 46.9 seconds to go.
Game Notes
James' 19 points are a season-high. His previous high was 14 ... Collison was 11-of-13 from the foul line ... Utah outscored Dallas in the paint 52-36 ... The Mavericks snapped a three-game losing streak against the Jazz. Their last win came on March 3, 2012 in Dallas ... Utah wins the season-series for the first time since 2009-10.
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