Jose Barea scored 16 of his season-high 22 points in the decisive third quarter, and Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points to lift the Dallas Mavericks to their ninth victory in 10 games, 100-98 over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.
Barea was 7-of-9 from the floor in the third, and Dallas outscored Atlanta 33-16 in the quarter to take a 15-point lead.
The Mavericks have won four in a row overall and five straight at home. Dallas is 3-0 on its seven-game homestand.
Joe Johnson had 32 points, Mike Bibby added 21 and Zaza Pachulia had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks, whose three-game winning streak ended.
The Hawks nearly erased a 19-point deficit in the final 9 minutes. Atlanta went on a 24-8 run and cut it to 96-95 on Bibby's 3-pointer with 23 seconds left.
Jason Terry hit a pair of free throws to put Dallas up by three. Johnson missed what would have been the tying 3-pointer with 8 seconds left, Jason Kidd got the rebound and fed Brandon Bass for a dunk with 3.7 seconds left.
Nowitzki was 9-of-17 from the floor and had 11 rebounds. Terry scored 19 points, and Bass had 10 of his 14 points in the fourth.
Barea scored eight points in an 11-2 run that put Dallas up 74-59 after three quarters.
The 6-foot Puerto Rican guard then started the fourth quarter with a pair of baskets. One of which was a reverse layup that brought Nowitzki and his teammates up off the bench.
Atlanta, coming off a home victory over New York on Friday night, shot 45.3 percent and turned the ball over 19 times.
Barea hit the winning 3-pointer Tuesday to beat the Los Angeles Clippers and then scored 18 points in his first start of the season against Phoenix two days later.
Notes: Hawks C Al Horford, who injured his ankle Friday against New York, didn't play. Coach Mike Woodson said before the game that Horford would play. ... Mavericks F Josh Howard (sprained left ankle) was inactive for the eighth straight game. ... Atlanta guard Acie Law, a Dallas native, had two points and two assists.
