Mavs prevail

In a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals, Dirk Nowitzki scored 35 points, Jason Terry had 30 and Jerry Stackhouse had 23 as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns 119-112 Thursday night at Phoenix for their first victory of the season.

Leandro Barbosa scored 30 points, Shawn Marion had 21 and Steve Nash had 20 for Phoenix, which fell to 1-5, the Suns’ worst start since they dropped 13 in a row to open the 1996-97 season.

The Mavs came into the game shooting 42.4 percent from the floor, 27th in the NBA. But Dallas shot 54.8 percent against Phoenix’s porous defense.

This was the first meeting of the clubs since last season’s Western Conference finals, won by Dallas in six games. And it was played at the same frantic pace, with six lead changes and three ties in the final quarter. But this time the teams were motivated by desperation rather than a trip to the NBA Finals.

Cavaliers 113, Bulls 94: At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 19 points with a season-high 12 assists to lead the Cavaliers past Chicago. Drew Gooden added 20 points in three quarters, Anderson Varejao had a career-high 15 and Sasha Pavlovic 16 points in a season-high 25 minutes for the Cavaliers.

Warriors 121, Hornets 116: At Oakland, Calif., Baron Davis had 36 points and nine assists against his former club, and Golden State knocked off the NBA’s last unbeaten team with a victory over New Orleans.

Off the courts

Portland Trail Blazers forward Darius Miles will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Tuesday in New York and is out indefinitely, the team said. … Boston Celtics forward Al Jefferson was released from New England Baptist Hospital, one day after his appendix was removed.