Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki drives to the basket for a shot past Toronto Raptors center Andrea Bargnani (right) and guard Jose Calderon (second right) in the second half of their NBA basketball game in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday. Reuters

Nowitzki hit four straight three-pointers in the final 1:41 of the third quarter, when Dallas went ahead to stay after overcoming a 24-point deficit. The Mavericks finished their four-game homestand undefeated and are 6-0 at home this season.

Dallas made its largest comeback ever to win a game in regulation. The Mavericks also overcame a 24-point deficit against Toronto in February 2006, but won that game in overtime. The Raptors have never blown a bigger lead to lose, and now they've done it twice against Dallas.

Nowitzki scored 18 in the third quarter, when the Mavs outscored Toronto 38-17 to overcome a 14-point halftime deficit.

Chris Bosh had a season-high 31 points with 12 rebounds for the Raptors.

In Denver, Carmelo Anthony scored 26 points and Marcus Camby added 12 points and 20 rebounds as Denver downed Chicago.

Allen Iverson scored 22 points and Kenyon Martin had 13 for Denver, which has won six straight.

Rookie reserve Joakim Noah had 16 points for Chicago, which fell to 2-8, its worst start since 2004-05 when it was 0-9.

Kirk Hinrich and rookie Thomas Gardner had 14 points apiece for the Bulls.

In Indianapolis, Kobe Bryant scored 32 points, and short-handed Los Angeles beat Indiana for its fourth straight win.

Jordan Farmar had a career-high 18 points, Andrew Bynum added 17 points and 10 rebounds and the Lakers rolled to a season-high point total.

Shawne Williams led the Pacers (4-7) with a career-high 24 points, and Jamaal Tinsley added 10 points and 10 assists. It was Indiana's worst home defeat since a 24-point loss to New Jersey on March 4, 2001.

In Cleveland, Michael Redd scored a season-high 34 points, Mo Williams added 20 and Milwaukee ended a seven-game losing streak against Cleveland with its first road win this season.

The Bucks hadn't beaten the Cavs since December 10, 2005. LeBron James finished with 34 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in 44 minutes.

Charlie Villanueva had 17 points and Royal Ivey 15 for the Bucks, who came in 4-0 at home and 0-4 on the road.

In New York, Baron Davis had 31 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and Golden State ruined Stephon Marbury's return to the starting lineup.

The Knicks have lost seven straight.

Stephen Jackson added 23 points for the resurgent Warriors, who have won three straight after an 0-6 start.

Marbury scored 18 points, but the Knicks were never in the game in the second half and were booed often over the final three quarters. So was coach Isiah Thomas, who saw no results from his decision to demote Marbury last week and heard "Fire Isiah!" cries on a few occasions during the game.

Zach Randolph had 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks.

In Atlanta, Tony Parker scored 17 of his 31 points in the second quarter and Manu Ginobili added 19 for San Antonio.

San Antonio, which has won six of seven, took an 83-65 lead after three periods, leading by 24 on several occasions, the last at 83-59 on a free throw by Ginobili.

The Hawks, who have lost three in a row, went on a 14-2 run to get within 85-75 with 6:45 left on a Joe Johnson basket but never got closer. The Spurs got baskets by Michael Finley and Parker for an 89-75 lead, ending a six-minute drought in which they scored only one basket.

Johnson led the Hawks with 20 points.

Agencies

(China Daily 11/22/2007 page24)