Mavericks Whip Rockets, 107-86

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 22, 2003

Mavericks Whip Rockets, 107-86

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Dirk Nowitzki scored 12 of his 26 points during a gamebreaking second quarter and Raef LaFrentz contained Yao Ming, helping the Dallas Mavericks end a three-game losing streak with a 107-86 victory over the listless Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.

Returning home from a dismal West Coast trip, Dallas drilled its first four shots -- all long jumpers -- and led by 12 points early. Although Houston briefly went ahead, Nowitzki helped the Mavericks grab control by moving the offense down low.

Nowitzki rebounded from a scoreless first quarter to score eight of Dallas' first nine in the second, starting with a layup off a great spin move. The Mavericks went on to outscore the Rockets 29-13 in the quarter.

Their lead peaked at 24 in the third. Houston capitalized on sloppy play by Dallas to make a 12-0 run, but never got closer than 12 in losing for the second straight time since an exciting overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Dallas hadn't lost consecutive games all season before falling to Sacramento, Phoenix and Seattle over the last five days. In avoiding their first four-game losing streak since March 2000, the Mavericks improved their league-leading record to 32-8. All other teams have at least 11 losses.

Steve Nash had 20 points and eight assists and Michael Finley scored 19 points, including the 5,000th of his career on a hard-fought tip-in just before the buzzer at the end of the third quarter.

LaFrentz had eight points, but played a key role by helping hold Yao to six points and five rebounds in 22 minutes.

Yao had 30 points and 16 rebounds when the teams last met, with much of his success coming against Shawn Bradley. This time, Bradley didn't get in until late in the third, with Dallas up 20.

LaFrentz, 7 inches shorter than Yao, blocked three of his shots and once tied him up to force a jump ball, which LaFrentz won. LaFrentz, who had five blocks, also stuffed a dunk attempt by James Posey.

Posey typified Houston's offensive woes by following that rejection with an airball on a 3-pointer on the next possession.

Among other reasons for the Rockets to forget this one -- they committed a season-high 26 turnovers, had a season-low eight assists while absorbing their most lopsided loss.

Houston's Steve Francis, coming off a four-point game that was his worst since going scoreless as a rookie, had 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists. He was 8-for-17. Cuttino Mobley scored 16.

The Rockets' only lead was 23-22 on a free throw by Maurice Taylor late in the first quarter, but a layup by Walt Williams on the Mavs' next possession put them back ahead for good.

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