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Nash came back from a one-point first half and scored 18 during a third-quarter surge as the Mavericks won their third straight, 114-93 over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night.

"It was a poor first half," said Nash, who finished with 21 points and six assists after missing all five of his first-half shots. "We needed to win this game and we needed to be more assertive and take things over."

Cleveland was in front 54-53 early in the third quarter before Nash took control.

Nash's 22-foot jumper gave the Mavericks the lead for good, 55-54, and he assisted on consecutive 3-pointers by Dirk Nowitzki later in the quarter as Dallas extended its edge to 75-65.

Nash hit two straight 3-pointers late in the third quarter, the second as time expired to make it 86-73 entering the final quarter.

The Mavericks went on to lead by as many as 25 in the fourth.

"Stevie has just been a monster player for us of late," said Mavericks assistant coach Donnie Nelson, who took over head coaching duties along with assistant Del Harris after coach Don Nelson was ejected in the first half. "I think that he sensed with (Don Nelson) being out, he stepped up to the plate and got us rolling."

Dallas improved its league-best record to 51-16, moving within six victories of matching last season's franchise-best total with 15 games remaining.

The Carlos Boozer Archive

Dallas played the second half without forward Michael Finley, who strained his left hamstring while scoring 21 first-half points. Finley played all 24 minutes of the first half and went 8-of-12 from the field.

Finley missed 13 games last season due to a left hamstring injury.

The Cavaliers, who have the league's worst record (12-54), were led by Zydrunas Ilgauskas' 30 points and 13 rebounds. Smush Parker had 16 points and former Juneau-Douglas High School star Carlos Boozer added 12 as Cleveland lost for the 14th time in its last 16.

Cleveland's Ricky Davis had 11 points and matched a career high with 10 rebounds for his second straight double-double.

Knicks 105, Spurs 97

Here's a twist in the Eastern Conference: The New York Knicks are creeping closer to a playoff spot.

Allan Houston scored 36 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, as New York defeated San Antonio to snap the Spurs' six-game winning streak.

Houston, coming off a 50-point performance in a victory over the Bucks, made six 3-pointers to help New York become the first team from the East to win at the SBC Center this season.

"It was a great win for us and allowed us to finally gain some ground," Latrell Sprewell said.

Sprewell added 17, Michael Doleac had 14 and Kurt Thomas 13 for the Knicks, who outscored the Spurs 36-19 in the final quarter.on the floor I'll be successful. I'm confident."

Tim Duncan had 27 points despite being listed as questionable before the game with a sprained right ankle. He was 9-of-15 from the field in 45 minutes but struggled at the line, hitting only nine of 15.

Pistons 94, Wizards 90, OT

At Washington, Richard Hamilton damaged his former team's playoff prospects by scoring six of his 16 points in overtime.

Hamilton, who shot just 4-of-12 in regulation, was 3-of-5 in the extra period, including three straight jumpers that gave the Pistons a four-point lead. He and Chauncey Billups, who sealed it with a high-arching layup in traffic with 13 seconds left, accounted for nine of 10 Detroit's overtime points.

Jerry Stackhouse scored 28 points and Michael Jordan had 23 for the Wizards, who now leave for a six-game West Coast road trip.

Kings 117, Warriors 91

At Sacramento, Scot Pollard had 15 points and 12 rebounds as Sacramento beat Golden State for the 14th straight time.

Chris Webber had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Jim Jackson scored 14 points as the Kings tuned up for Thursday's showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Gilbert Arenas had 22 points for Golden State, and rookie Mike Dunleavy had 15 points and seven rebounds in his first NBA start.

76ers 103, Heat 83

At Miami, Allen Iverson scored 32 points and Philadelphia improved to 15-2 since the All-Star break.

Philadelphia shot 56 percent from the floor and never led by fewer than eight points in the second half.

Nets 87, Celtics 74

At Boston, Richard Jefferson matched his career-high with 27 points and the Nets beat the Celtics for the second time in six days.

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 23 points before spraining his left ankle with 7 seconds left in the third. The injury did not appear serious, and with the Nets holding a big lead, Pierce spent the rest of the game on the bench.

SuperSonics 100, Rockets 94

At Seattle, Rashard Lewis scored 25 points and Ray Allen had 23 to lead the SuperSonics over the Rockets, who were without coach Rudy Tomjanovich for the first time in 11 years.

Timberwolves 96, Grizzlies 80

At Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett made eight consecutive field goals in the second half and finished with 29 points and 19 rebounds as the Timberwolves ended the Grizzlies' six-game winning streak.

Jazz 91, Nuggets 82

At Salt Lake City, Matt Harpring scored 22 points and Karl Malone added 18 while collecting his 5,000th career assist in Utah's first home game after a five-game road trip.

Bulls 103, Hawks 78

At Chicago, Jalen Rose broke out of his scoring slump with 31 points in a victory that snapped the Bulls' three-game losing streak.