DALLAS – Ty Lawson had 19 points after a quiet start, Nate Robinson scored 11 straight for Denver in the fourth quarter and the Nuggets beat Dallas 110-96 Monday night, their second win over the Mavericks in three days.
Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season.
J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Monta Ellis led the Mavericks with 22 points, and Dirk Nowitzki passed Brooklyn's Kevin Garnett on the scoring list and finished with 18.
In Saturday's meeting, the Nuggets took a big lead early and had to hold on late for the win. This time they had to overcome a slow start.
Denver fell behind by 11 less than 6 minutes in before going on a 21-6 run to take a 29-25 lead late in the first quarter.
After going up by as many as 12 in the second quarter, the Nuggets started the third with a 16-6 run powered by Lawson. He opened the second half with a jumper and finished the spurt with a 3-pointer for a 72-57 lead.
The Mavericks were within four early in the fourth quarter when Robinson scored 11 straight Denver points. Robinson hit consecutive 3-pointers to push Denver's lead back to 10, then capped his run with another from long range for a 100-87 lead.
Nowitzki moved ahead Garnett for 14th on the scoring list with two free throws with 3:03 left in the second quarter. Garnett, who didn't play Monday, sits at 25,352 points.
Kobe Bryant is the only active player ahead of Nowitzki, who has 25,361. The Los Angeles Lakers star, who is still recovering after tearing an Achilles tendon last April, is fourth all-time at 31,617 points.
Nowitzki, an 11-time All-Star and the 2007 MVP, has passed Jerry West, Reggie Miller and Garnett since Nov. 12.
The Nuggets led 56-51 at halftime despite getting just five points and three shot attempts from Lawson.
Hickson had 10 of his 13 first-half points during the run that put Denver ahead for good. The Nuggets made nine straight shots before Robinson missed a 3-pointer trying to beat the first-quarter buzzer.
Ellis and Nowitzki combined to go 10 of 13 from the field in the first half and led Dallas with 13 points apiece.
NOTES: Both teams shot 54 percent in the first half. ... Darrell Arthur, who played high school basketball in Dallas, put the Nuggets ahead for good at 27-25 on a jumper late in the first quarter. ... Nowitzki's free throw streak ended at 35 with a miss in the fourth quarter. ... It was the third straight home game for Dallas to allow 50 percent shooting, but the first loss. The Mavericks beat Houston (55 percent) and Utah (50 percent). The Nuggets shot 55 percent.
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