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DALLAS, Texas: The Dallas Mavericks turned back a
late challenge by Cleveland superstar LeBron James Thursday to push
their National Basketball Association winning streak to 14 games.
Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points and
11 rebounds as the Mavericks downed the Cavaliers 95-92.
The league-leading Mavericks
improved to 49-9 and tied their longest winning streak in franchise
history, previously set by the 2002-03 squad that started 14-0.
Dallas will look to set a new
mark when they host Orlando on Saturday.
On Wednesday, the Mavs became the
only team in NBA history to record three winning streaks of at least
12 games. They won 13 in a row from December 13-January 5 and reeled
off a 12-game run after starting the season 0-4.
James did his best to try to hand
the Mavs their first loss since January 25 as he scored 39 points on
17-of-27 shooting.
But the Mavericks have their own
star in Nowitzki, who was named the Western Conference Player of the
Month for February earlier Thursday.
In the fourth quarter, Nowitzki
scored 10 points during a 13-6 surge, which gave the Mavs an 89-75
cushion with 6:20 remaining.
However, the Cavaliers responded
with a 17-6 burst to pull within 95-92 with 41 seconds to play.
James scored 11 of his 13 fourth-quarter points in the run.
Cleveland had chance to send the
game into overtime, but James misfired on two straight 3-pointers in
the final seconds.
Jason Terry scored 20 points and
All-Star Josh Howard chipped in 17 and 10 rebounds for the
Mavericks, who have won 21 games in a row at home.
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