Mavericks deliver Sonics their sixth consecutive defeat

SEATTLE — Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to their fifth straight victory, 95-90 over the Seattle SuperSonics on Wednesday night.

It was Seattle’s sixth straight loss and kept the SuperSonics from clinching the Northwest Division title. Seattle needs one win or a loss by Denver for its first division title since 1998.

Seattle has not won since beating Portland on April 1.

Nowitzki made two free throws with 1:14 left to break an 87-87 tie.

Ray Allen made one free throw for Seattle with 58 seconds left. Jason Terry followed with a baseline jumper to give the Mavericks a 91-88 lead.

Seattle’s Antonio Daniels missed a jumper with 39 seconds left and Nowitzki hit a 16-footer from the baseline with 17 seconds remaining to put away the game. He added two free throws in the final seconds as Dallas improved to 20-2 when Nowitzki scores at least 30 points.

Allen had 19 points for Seattle, while Daniels returned from an injury to add 17.

Terry scored 15 points for Dallas, while Jerry Stackhouse added 14 off the bench.

Lewis, Daniels, Fortson return

After missing eight games, All-Star forward Rashard Lewis returned to the lineup for Seattle.

Lewis had been sidelined with a deep bone bruise in his right foot. He had not played since a March 27 loss at Washington, and Seattle lost six of eight games without him.

Seattle reserves Antonio Daniels and Danny Fortson also returned. Daniels had missed the last three games with a left knee injury, and Fortson missed the last two with a left shoulder sprain.