Terry finds groove as Mavs hand Pistons 10th straight loss

By Dave Ivey, for NBA.com
Posted Wednesday January 6, 2010 12:31AM

DALLAS (NBA.com exclusive) -- Jason Terry got a morning pep talk from Jason Kidd and energized the Mavericks on Tuesday night with a game-high 26 points in a 98-93 defeat of the reeling Pistons.

Terry, the league's reigning Sixth Man award winner, entered the game shooting just 39 percent at home this season. He was 11-for-19 against Detroit and added five assists and three rebounds.

"I give credit to J-Kidd," Terry said. "He talked to me at shootaround this morning and told me to just go out and do what you do. He said stop listening to everybody. When you are shooting bad, you have all kinds of coaches. As a shooter, you want to continue to shoot and you figure it is going to break through sooner or later and tonight it did for me. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come."

Detroit squandered a 14-point first-half lead and lost its 10th consecutive game, its longest losing streak since dropping the final 13 games of the 1993-94 season.

Dallas opened the fourth quarter with an 11-3 run to take a 79-71 lead, with Terry capping the spurt with a 19-foot jumper. He knocked down another mid-range jumper to put the Mavericks ahead 94-86 with 1:45 remaining, but Detroit responded with seven unanswered points. After two free throws by Dirk Nowitzki made it 96-93 with 10.4 seconds left, the Pistons blew a golden chance to tie when Rodney Stuckey missed a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner. Shawn Marion sank two free throws with 6.5 seconds remaining to clinch the victory and keep Detroit winless since Dec. 12.

"We're just going to stick through it," Stuckey said. "It's a long year. We've got a lot of games left ahead of us and we're just trying to get over this little hump we're having right now."

Richard Hamilton led five Pistons in double figures with 20 points. Charlie Villanueva had 17 points and nine rebounds of the bench and Stuckey finished with 15.

Nowitzki notched his 11th double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Drew Gooden had 10 points and a season-high 18 rebounds, including a career-high nine offensive boards. Many of those were his own missed shots, however, as he missed 12 straight field-goal attempts in one stretch. Marion tied his season high with 18 points.

Kidd and Nowitzki both reached milestones. Kidd made two 3-pointers to pass Eddie Jones (1,546) for sixth place in NBA history with 1,548. Nowitzki played in his 873rd game with the Mavericks, passing Derek Harper for second place behind Brad Davis (883).

The Mavericks improved to 10-3 in games decided by five or fewer points. They also improved to 15-1 when outrebounding their opponents with a 47-41 advantage against the Pistons. Dallas turned the ball over just eight times, while scoring 21 points off 14 Detroit miscues. The Pistons fell to 3-14 on the road.

Dallas has now won four straight against Detroit with back-to-back sweeps of the season series. The Mavericks won 95-90 at The Palace on Nov. 15 in a game that ended in similar fashion. Ben Gordon missed a game-tying 3-pointer and Terry made two free throws to ice that victory.

The Mavs were ice cold to start this one, their first game at home since Dec. 26. They shot 28.6 percent and trailed 22-14 after one quarter. Chris Wilcox scored eight points in the quarter for Detroit, including two alley-oops and a one-handed slam. The Pistons extended their lead to 38-24 on a fourth consecutive 3-pointer by Villanueva with 6:35 remaining and were ahead 44-36 at the break.

Terry scored a team-high 11 points in the first half and remained on the floor to start the second half as the Mavericks began to find a groove. Dallas shot 12-for-22 in the third quarter and went 8-for-8 at the free-throw line, after attempting just two free throws in the first half. Nowitzki scored 14 and Marion had 10 points in the quarter.

"The third quarter came and we pushed the tempo and that is the way we like to play," Terry said. "We like to free-wheel and not so much set it up in the half-court. We like to get out and run."

The Mavericks finished with a 19-11 advantage in fastbreak points.

Both teams were shorthanded. Starting Dallas center Erick Dampier missed his second consecutive game with inflammation in his left knee and is day-to-day. He has averaged 8.0 points, a team-high 9.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 25 games.

Will Bynum, Detroit's backup point guard and spark off the bench, did not make the Texas trip and missed his third straight game with a sprained left ankle. He has averaged 12.1 points and 4.3 assists in 27 games, including 27 points in the first meeting with the Mavs.

Before the game, the Mavericks learned that NBA Commissioner David Stern had denied their protest of a 116-108 loss to the Rockets on Dec. 18. Dallas had argued that the officials had incorrectly assessed Dampier with a second technical foul with 1:01 left in overtime, resulting in his ejection. Stern said that the referees' decision was a judgment call, which cannot be protested under NBA rules.

• Pistons: Bynum, Summers
• Mavericks: Carroll, Dampier, Williams

• Pistons: --
• Mavericks: Terry

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
• Officials: #9 Derrick Stafford, #62 Brian Forte, #60 David Guthrie
• Attendance: 19799
• Duration: 2:16