Mavs win at home

Minutes away from finally leading their first-round playoff series, the Dallas Mavericks proved they deserved it.

Keeping alive rebounds, diving for loose balls and making clutch shot after clutch shot, Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks held off a late charge by visiting Houston and pulled out a 103-100 victory Monday night, putting them ahead 3-2 in a series they trailed 0-2 after their last game in Dallas.

This was the first time this series that the local fans went home happy. It came at a perfect time for Dallas, which now has two chances to join the 1969 Lakers and ‘94 Rockets as the only teams to win a seven-game series after dropping the first two at home.

Wizards 106, Bulls 99

Washington wouldn’t let visiting Chicago anywhere near the rim in the opening minutes, rattling their opponents early and often in a 106-99 victory that evened their first-round playoff series at two games apiece.

Juan Dixon scored a career-high 35 points, popping endless jumpers to help the Wizards build a 27-point lead and stave off the Bulls to even the series at two games apiece.

Around the league

Dallas Mavericks forward Keith Van Horn has a second-degree left ankle sprain and is expected to miss about two weeks of the NBA playoffs. … The NBA fined Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy $100,000 – the largest amount ever for a coach – a day after accusing officials of targeting center Yao Ming this postseason and saying Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is to blame. … Denver forward Carmelo Anthony was fined $7,500 by the NBA for shoving San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili during Game 3 of the first-round playoff series between the Nuggets and Spurs.