Mavs rally to victory

An inability to beat quality teams has dogged the Dallas Mavericks for weeks and called into question the wisdom of the Jason Kidd trade.

It may be time to move on. It seems the Mavericks have.

A 105-98 victory over the Phoenix Suns was sculpted by fourth-quarter execution that too often has been lacking. A Mavericks team that has been discouraged by its performance late in games attacked the final period Sunday afternoon with a defensive ferocity and offensive cool that left the Suns shaking their heads.

The Mavericks held Phoenix to a season-low nine points in the fourth quarter to overcome a 13-point deficit and become the first team to beat the Suns at US Airways Center in Phoenix since March 7.

“We haven’t been able to win these type of games,” Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. “It was good for it to finally happen.”

The win wasn’t as emotional as the one the Mavericks picked up against Golden State, but it was every bit as significant. For the first time in more than two months, they beat a team with a winning record on the road.

The two victories, coming within five days of each other, have generated optimism in the Mavericks locker room, which Dirk Nowitzki described as “hyped up” in the wake of Sunday’s win.

Hornets 108, Warriors 96: At New Orleans, Chris Paul had 16 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, and the Hornets tied a franchise record for single-season victories with 54 in a defeat of Golden State.

It was the fourth career triple double for Paul, who inspired boisterous chants of “MVP” from a sellout crowd.

Pistons 91, Heat 75: At Miami, Rodney Stuckey scored 19 points, Tayshaun Prince added 14 on 6-of-7 shooting and Detroit wrapped up the No. 2 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs by beating the Heat.

Jarvis Hayes, Jason Maxiell, Juan Dixon and Arron Afflalo each scored 10 points for the Pistons, who won their fifth straight.

Spurs 72, Trail Blazers 65: At Portland, Tim Duncan had 27 points and 11 rebounds and San Antonio beat the Trail Blazers, extending the Spurs’ winning streak over Portland to 12 games.

Trail Blazers center Joel Przybilla broke a bone in his right hand during the second quarter. He will miss the team’s final five games.

Lakers 114, Kings 92: At Sacramento, Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, Vladimir Radmanovic matched his season high with 21 and Los Angeles stayed on track for the Pacific Division title with a victory over the Kings.

Pau Gasol added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers.

Indiana 105, Bucks 97: At Indianapolis, Travis Diener scored 15 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and the Pacers beat Milwaukee to remain in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt.

Diener made 5 of 6 3-pointers in the final period.

Rockets 105, Clippers 79: At Los Angeles, rookie Aaron Brooks came off the bench to score 18 points, five teammates reached double figures, and Houston beat the short-handed Clippers to clinch a playoff berth.

Josh Powell had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers.

Grizzlies 113, Timebrwolves 101: At Minneapolis, Mike Miller scored 34 points and hit a season-high eight 3-pointers to lead Memphis to victory over Minnesota.

Rudy Gay added 23 points for Memphis and Hakim Warrick had 20.

Knicks 100, Magic 90: At New York, rookie Wilson Chandler scored a season-high 23 points, Zach Randolph added 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Knicks snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory over Orlando.