Mavericks Hustle Past Timberwolves

Dirk Nowitzki made half of his shots Tuesday night, and it seemed like the other half landed in the hands of his hustling teammates.

Nowitzki scored 34 points, including 23 in the second half, and Dallas had a season-high 24 offensive rebounds in a 97-87 victory over Minnesota at Minneapolis that ended the Timberwolves’ winning streak at five games.

“We knew we had to step it up defensively and the biggest key was our rebounding,” said Nowitzki, who was 13 of 26 from the field.

“I wish I could sugarcoat it, but we got pummeled tonight,” Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders said.

The Mavericks overcame the ejection of Coach Don Nelson for arguing calls after only 93 seconds and outrebounded Minnesota, 54-35, to win for the third time in four games.

Kevin Garnett had 32 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for Minnesota. Sam Cassell was scoreless in the second half.

The Timberwolves were playing without starter Latrell Sprewell. Sprewell was suspended for one game by the NBA for yelling a sexual vulgarity at a Clipper fan at Staples Center on Saturday night.

Cleveland 103, New Jersey 97 -- LeBron James had 27 points and assisted on Lucious Harris’ clinching three-pointer with six seconds left as the Cavaliers won their eight in a row at home.

At 12-6, the Cavaliers have the best record in the Eastern Conference for the first time after 15 games since March 21, 1989, when they were 48-17.

Richard Jefferson led New Jersey with 27 points and Jason Kidd had 10 points and two assists in 20 minutes in his second game back from knee surgery.

Phoenix 118, Golden State 104 -- Steve Nash had 11 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to help the Suns rally from a seven-point deficit at Phoenix.

Amare Stoudemire had 33 points and 11 rebounds as the Suns won for the 12th time in 13 games. Jason Richardson had a season-high 32 points for the Warriors, who led for most of the game but made only six of 23 shots in the fourth quarter and went 7:20 without a basket.

Milwaukee 89, Indiana 86 -- Michael Redd scored 28 points to lead the Bucks to their first road victory of the season at Indianapolis.

It was the fifth straight loss for Indiana. Reggie Miller had 32 points for the Pacers, who never lost more than two in a row last season. They are 3-6 since their top three players -- Ron Artest, Jermaine O’Neal and Stephen Jackson -- were suspended for a Nov. 19 brawl against Detroit.

Houston 89, New Orleans 81 -- Yao Ming had 21 points and nine rebounds to lead the Rockets at Houston.

David Wesley had 18 points for the Hornets, who have won only once this season and are on a seven-game losing streak.

Memphis 96, New York 88 -- Earl Watson scored a career-high 22 points, missing only one of his 10 shots, to help the Grizzlies send the visiting Knicks to their third straight loss.

Jamal Crawford had 17 points for the Knicks.

Sacramento 109, Charlotte 92 -- Peja Stojakovic had season highs of 30 points and 12 rebounds at Sacramento in the Kings’ 12th victory in 13 games.

Chris Webber sat out to rest his sore left knee.

One day after being traded by the Lakers, Kareem Rush scored 14 points on six-for-14 shooting in his debut with the Bobcats.