DALLAS, Feb. 7 (Ticker) -- Not even Kobe Bryant can slow down the red-hot Dallas Mavericks these days.

Dirk Nowitzki had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Josh Howard added 22 and 10 as the Mavericks frustrated Bryant en route to their NBA season-high 12th straight win, a 102-87 triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers.

NBA TV highlights from Lakers-Mavs: Play

Jerry Stackhouse contributed 14 points off the bench for Dallas (38-10), which moved into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference.

"I don't think our reputation will change anytime soon," Nowitzki said. "I think you build your reputation in the playoffs, and ultimately, that's where we've got to make a stand. I think we could go ... 35-0 and I don't really think anybody would talk about us. Ultimately, we are already looking ahead and working on stuff that we'll hopefully use in the playoffs and to really build our reputation there."

Stackhouse did most of his damage in the first half, when the Mavericks led by as many as 20 points. But the Lakers rallied and took a 66-64 lead on a pair of free throws by Lamar Odom with 2:56 left in the third quarter.

"We got ourselves back in the game, and then the roof caved in on us," Bryant said. "We got away from what got us back in the game."

Howard answered with a jumper on the other end and added a layup to ignite a 19-2 run that bridged the final two periods and put the Mavs back in control.

Howard scored six points and Devin Harris had four of his 10 during the burst, which was capped by Keith Van Horn's 3-pointer with 9:44 remaining that made it 83-68. Los Angeles got no closer than 11 thereafter.

"Josh was great," Nowitzki said. "He got some ball movement and some drives to get to the line some. I thought we had another great team effort on both ends of the floor."

"I think he's a (heck) of a player," Bryant said of Howard. "I like his game a lot. He provides for his team what they ask him to do. He comes in and does it extremely well. He's consistent, too. I think he's a (heck) of a player."

The league's leading scorer at 35.7 points per game, Bryant had been especially effective against the Mavs, averaging 52.5 in two matchups, including an incredible 62-point performance in just three quarters December 20. Los Angeles is the only team to have defeated Dallas twice this season.

"We tried to bother him and make it hard on him," Dallas coach Avery Johnson said. "He's been averaging 50 points on us and we didn't want that to happen (again)."

Howard, Harris and Adrian Griffin rotated coverage on Bryant Tuesday, limiting him to 24 points on 5-of-22 shooting.

"It was a combination of things," Bryant said. "What they did is, they made a concerted effort to send two guys over, three guys, four guys or whatever, at me. They just trapped me all over the court."

"We just tried to make every catch tough," Harris said. "We tried to fight him in the post, try to make them throw him a lob and try to squeeze him from the back side. He was struggling to get the ball and having to step out and take some poor shots. To me, that (Bryant yelling at his teammates) just let us know we did our job."

Dallas opened the game with a 9-0 run and cruised to a 27-10 lead after the first quarter.

Nowitzki added a jumper six minutes into the second period that made it 40-20, but Brian Cook scored 10 of his career-high 28 points before the half to help cut the Lakers' deficit to 49-38.

"They were stacking that side with Kobe," said Cook, who made 12-of-16 from the field. "He had 62 against them last time and they didn't want that to happen again. I was just waiting over there on the weak side. They had Dirk and Van Horn roaming over there and I was just open on the weak side a lot for jump shots. That's what I do, I just shoot."

Devean George scored 10 points off the bench for the Lakers, who have lost four straight and fell to 1-5 on a seven-game road trip.

"We've been struggling on this trip, and we've got to figure out how to combat that," Bryant said.

Bryant was not alone in his frustration Tuesday. Centers Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum both picked up flagrant fouls, while Bryant, Odom and George each were called for technicals.

After George's technincal with just over a minute left in the game, Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson called a timeout, made several substitutions and intentionally kept his team in the huddle long enough to have a delay-of-game warning and another technical foul called on his team.