NBA: Nowitzki pours in 27 as Mavs top Spurs

DALLAS – The Dallas Mavericks, trying to gain momentum in their NBA title defense, defeated Western Conference rivals San Antonio Saturday 106-99 to halt the Spurs’ three-game winning streak.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points to lead the Mavs and Jason Terry added 17.

French guard Rodrigue Beaubois, playing against illustrious compatriot Tony Parker – a player he admired as a youngster – added 16 points and matched his career-high with eight rebounds.

Dallas won their third straight after a 0-3 skid. They had started to turn things around with victories over Washington and Charlotte, the worst two teams in the league.

A win over the Spurs, however, was more convincing, even if the Spurs may have been feeling the effects of their victory Friday over Western Conference leaders Oklahoma City.

“I just think that their team in general was a lot sharper overall than we were,” said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. “We were half a step behind most of the night, defensively for sure, and they took advantage of it. They shot the ball well. They moved it well. They did a good job.”

Tim Duncan and Danny Green led the Spurs with 17 points each. Tiago Splitter scored 15 and Parker had a double-double of 13 points and 11 assists.

Vince Carter had 10 points for Dallas and backup centers Ian Mahinmi and Brandan Wright combined for 15 points and 17 rebounds.

“Everybody stepped up,” said Mavericks guard Jason Kidd, who had his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 assists.

“Everybody came to play tonight. We knew how important this game is,” Kidd said. “As the season is getting closer to the end, we’ve got to play better basketball. Tonight is a perfect example of that.”

Dallas jumped to a quick lead and never trailed, although the Spurs never let them stretch the gap to more than 11 points.