Mavericks defeat New Orleans, 94-90, despite Nowitzki's struggles

Published Dec. 15, 2009 at 5:04 a.m.

The Mavericks have talked all season about the depth of this team. And they needed every bit of it Monday against New Orleans.

On a night when Dirk Nowitzki never could find a rhythm, his teammates came to the rescue in a 94-90 victory over the Hornets at American Airlines Center.

Hot-shooting guard J.J. Barea carried the Mavericks early and Jason Terry and Josh Howard came off the bench in the second half to lead the way.

Nowitzki only had two points through three quarters and finished with a season-low 10 on 4-of-11 shooting. But Barea poured in a season-best 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting, and Terry and Howard combined for 17 second-half points to help hold off the Hornets.

"Sometimes, hey, the big fellow isn't going to be there and we just have to play off him and let him set picks and get guys open," point guard Jason Kidd said, "and we did that."

The Southwest Division-leading Mavericks (18-7) have won four straight and six of their last eight. New Orleans (10-13), which fell to 1-15 in its last 16 games at Dallas, is now 2-10 on the road.

Dallas shot 63.6 percent in the first quarter to build a 35-18 lead, but that was wasted away because of a season-high 23 turnovers that led to 30 points.

"That's just not good enough for a team that has our aspirations," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said.

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