The new guys all chipped in, but it was the oldest Maverick who paced Dallas’ win.

Derek Harper, taking Jason Kidd’s spot in the starting lineup, scored 21 of his season-high 24 points in the first half and the Mavericks held on for a 95-90 win over the Seattle SuperSonics.

The Mavericks played looser than they have in weeks following Thursday’s trade of Kidd to the Phoenix Suns for Sam Cassell, Michael Finley and A.C. Green.

“We were relieved because all the changes were behind us,” said Harper.

Dallas blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter, but George McCloud made two key baskets down the stretch as the Mavericks stopped the SuperSonics’ five-game winning streak.

“We knew they were going to turn up the pressure and they did,” Mavericks coach Jim Cleamons said. “We became very tentative with our shot selection and attacking the basket and lost our momentum. Part of that is not practicing together.”

The Mavericks were playing their first game since the six-man trade. Cleamons had all three players acquired in the deal on the court together to start the second quarter. They were warmly greeted by the Reunion Arena crowd when they entered the game.

But it was Harper who led the way, keying a second-quarter surge with 10 points as the Mavericks opened a 60-42 halftime lead.

The Mavericks led 79-65 early in the fourth quarter before the Sonics went on a 17-2 run to take an 82-81 lead with 4:32 left.

Dallas re-took the lead when McCloud made a 3-pointer with 1:51 left, and hit a 20-foot jumper on the Mavs’ next possession for a 91-88 edge with 45.4 seconds left.

Seattle’s Eric Snow lost the ball out of bounds on a drive with 24.4 seconds left, and Jim Jackson converted four free throws over the final 22.2 seconds to seal the win.

Payton scored 28 points, Shawn Kemp 24 and Detlef Schrempf added 17 to pace the Sonics.

“We dug ourselves into a hole,” Kemp said. “Normally we’re able to come back, but tonight we fell a little short. We should have responded a little quicker. You can’t point the finger at anybody but yourself.”

Mavericks 95, SuperSonics 90

FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Schrempf 38 5-15 5-7 3-12 2 5 17 Kemp 40 10-15 4-7 3-7 3 6 24 McIlvaine 18 1-1 2-4 3-7 0 4 4 Payton 44 11-17 3-4 0-10 8 3 28 Hawkins 32 2-9 3-4 0-2 1 0 8 Ehlo 16 1-3 1-2 0-1 0 3 3 Perkins 29 1-10 0-0 2-4 0 1 2 Snow 18 1-4 2-2 1-1 1 3 4 Stewart 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Totals 240 32-74 20-30 12-44 15 26 90 Percentages: FG .432, FT .667.

3-Point Goals: 6-21, .286 (Payton 3-6, Schrempf 2-4, Hawkins 1-4, Ehlo 0-1, Kemp 0-2, Perkins 0-4).

Team Rebounds: 7.

Blocked shots: 7 (Kemp 2, McIlvaine 2, Perkins 2, Snow).

Turnovers: 17 (Schrempf 4, Payton 3, McIlvaine 3, Kemp 2, Perkins 2, Ehlo, Snow, Stewart).

Steals: 9 (Payton 4, Schrempf 2, Kemp 2, Hawkins).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb DALLAS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts McCloud 30 5-12 4-4 0-0 4 3 15 Walker 4 1-2 0-1 0-1 0 4 2 Montross 17 3-4 0-0 0-5 2 3 6 Harper 41 9-14 0-2 3-6 3 2 24 Jackson 40 6-12 6-6 0-6 5 4 18 Mashburn 17 2-4 0-2 0-3 0 2 5 Cassell 13 1-6 0-0 1-2 1 2 2 Finley 20 4-9 0-0 0-2 0 0 8 Gatling 30 2-12 7-9 6-13 1 2 11 Green 28 1-5 2-4 5-9 0 3 4 Totals 240 34-80 19-28 15-47 16 25 95 Percentages: FG .425, FT .679.

3-Point Goals: 8-21, .381 (Harper 6-8, Mashburn 1-3, McCloud 1-5, Jackson 0-1, Finley 0-1, Cassell 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 9.

Blocked shots: 5 (Jackson 2, Gatling 2, Montross).

Turnovers: 14 (McCloud 3, Jackson 2, Cassell 2, Gatling 2, Finley 2, Walker, Harper, Mashburn).

Steals: 9 (Harper 4, McCloud 2, Montross, Cassell, Gatling).

Technical fouls: None.

Illegal defense: 1.

Seattle 25 17 21 27 - 90

Dallas 26 34 15 20 - 95

A-18,042 (18,042). T-2:21.