Dallas Mavericks 111, Golden State Warriors 86

by PegNews wire

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks came up huge Wednesday night at the AAC, defeating their hated rivals from California 111-86 in a game that may have a huge impact on the playoffs. With a surprisingly athletic Dirk Nowitzki returning to the court, the Mavericks were finally able to win a game over a team with a winning record -- just in time, too, as a Golden State victory may have been the tiebreaker to bump the Mavericks out of the tight Western Conference playoff ranks.

With the win, the Mavs improve to 47-28, two games ahead of the Warriors, who are fighting with the Dallas and the Denver Nuggets for the final two playoff spots. The win was also the first time Dallas has beaten a team with a winning record since acquiring Jason Kidd from the Nets.

Dirk Nowitzki played 27 tough minutes Wednesday, scoring 18 points and collecting five rebounds in a game no one expected him to play. Dirk had injured his leg five games ago against the Spurs, and many wrote the Mavericks' playoff chances off when Dirk went down.

He was helped out by some excellent games from his teammates. Jason Terry had a huge game, putting up 31 points on 11-of-21 shooting, as well as five rebounds and six assists. Josh Howard added 28 points and 7 rebounds, while Jason Kidd had a dominating game, scoring 5 points but adding 11 rebounds and a season-high 17 assists.

Posted by Todd M.