DALLAS, March 11 (Ticker) -- Michael Finley led a balanced attack as the Dallas Mavericks won their fifth straight contest and snapped the Seattle SuperSonics' four-game winning streak, 119-108.

Finley shot 10-of-14 from the field en route to 26 points and had seven assists and five rebounds for the Mavericks, who picked up their eighth victory in nine games.

NBA TV highlights from Sonics-Mavericks: 56k | 300k Nick Van Exel has meshed comfortably with his new team, scoring 17 points against the Sonics. Glenn James/NBAE/Getty Images

Steve Nash tallied 23 points and nine assists and Dirk Nowitzki added 19 and 12 rebounds for Dallas, which took the lead for good at 20-17 midway through the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Nash.

"We definitely have a lot of shooters who can stretch the floor," Nash said. "We like to push it and create mismatches and really move the ball around, get them in between and try to make them pay. That's really our forte. That's why we score so many points and tonight everybody got involved."

Nick Van Exel, who was traded to Dallas from Denver two weeks ago, was 6-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-4 from the arc, for 17 points.

"Oh, man, it was good, it was real good," Van Exel said. "I finally felt like I was part of the team out there contributing. I've been down on myself lately. I've been doing a lot of shooting with (assistant coach) Rolando (Blackman). Tonight, I finally made some shots."

"They've got a good team," said Seattle's Rashard Lewis, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds. "They've got a lot of weapons they can go to, a lot of guys that can score. If you pay a lot of attention to one or two guys, they have other guys they can go to. It's hard to defend, especially when you have a lot of shooters around the perimeter."

Desmond Mason, who grew up near Dallas, had 25 points, tying his career high, and Gary Payton 22 and seven assists for the Sonics, who lost for just the third time in 14 games.

Seattle had six players reach double figures and shot 49 percent (39-of-80), but it could not stop Dallas, which shot 52 percent (44-of-84).

"I think it's a step in the right direction," Nash said. "It wasn't perfect and it wasn't great, but it was good enough. It was definitely better than we've shown lately at the defensive end."

Though the Sonics outscored the Mavericks from the line, 26-20, Dallas registered 33 points from the arc to Seattle's 12.

The Mavs shot 55 percent (26-of-47) en route to a 71-60 halftime lead.

Seattle could only trim four points off its deficit by the end of the third quarter, and it never got closer than seven points in the final six minutes of the fourth. Dallas improved to 38-1 this season in games in which it led after three quarters.

The Sonics had won 14 of their last 19 matchups against the Mavs in Dallas.

With 42 seconds left in the contest, Sonics coach Nate McMillan was ejected for picking up a second technical foul for arguing with the officials.

"There was way too much grabbing on our players out there and guys get frustrated," McMillan said. "They get tired of getting held and bumped and the same thing is happening on our end and we aren't getting any calls. It's tough for a team to keep their heads and play through that, especially a young team who hasn't gotten respect all season long. And to come in here and have to play a very good team and have to deal with that [garbage] is ridiculous."

With the win, Dallas (45-18) remained a half-game behind Sacramento (45-17), which won at Chicago, for the top Western Conference playoff spot.

Seattle (36-28) is in seventh place, 1 1/2 games ahead of Utah, which was upset by Memphis and failed to gain any ground.