Steve Nash led all five starters in double figures with 24 points and dished out 11 assists as the Mavericks won their 10th straight game with a 107-97 victory over the Bulls.
Dallas defeated Chicago for the eighth straight time and handed new Bulls coach Bill Cartwright his first loss in three games.
Dirk Nowitzki added 18 points -- all in the second half -- and pulled down nine rebounds for Dallas. Greg Buckner started for the injured Chicago native Michael Finley and registered a season-high 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
 Greg Buckner started the game, was the Nestle Crunch Time player of the night, and recorded a season high. |
"Dirk is a big-time scorer," Nash said. "I had to keep going to him, even though he was having trouble scoring. It was one of those nights when you have to force-feed him to get him going. Hopefully we will all have a better performance next game."
After Ron Artest hit two free throws with 3:02 left to cut the deficit to 89-85, Nash hit a fadeaway and the Bulls got no closer than six points thereafter.
Artest tied his career high with 29 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Ron Mercer, Brad Miller and rookie Trenton Hassell scored 14 points apiece for Chicago.
"My first role is to play defense," Artest said. "I can play offense when it comes to me but my main role is to play good defense."
" Ron Artest was terrific," Cartwright said. "He is one guy that can hurt them in the post on defensive switches."
Although Chicago outrebounded Dallas, 41-35, the Mavericks outscored the Bulls in the paint, 44-32.
"Being smart defensively and keeping them out of the lane is something that we need to learn," Cartwright said. "I felt walking off the court it wasn't so much what they did, even though they shot the ball well, (it was) the things we did not do well."
The Mavericks jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first 2:51, but the Bulls remained composed and took their first lead at 42-41 on Artest's jumper with 23 seconds left in the second quarter. Eduardo Najera banked in a jumper at the buzzer to give Dallas a 43-42 lead at the break.
Chicago took a 50-47 lead on a pair of free throws by Mercer with 8:53 left in the third period. But Nash immediately hit a 3-pointer and Dallas never trailed again.
Dallas is one win shy of tying the club record for consecutive victories set from February 14-March 4, 1988.
"The Bulls played very well," Nelson said. "They hustled and played hard. The reason we didn't play well was their good defensive play. We didn't play our best, but give them credit for a lot of that."
"We were in it the whole game," Artest said. "We should have won it, but we made too many mistakes at the end of the game."