Dirk Nowitzki scored 22 points to offset a rough night for playmaking partner Monta Ellis, and the Dallas Mavericks held off a late charge from Golden State for a 103-99 victory over the Warriors on Wednesday night.
Nowitzki was 11 of 19 from the field and added three assists and matched the team high with two steals.
Ellis finished with a season-low four points on 2-of-16 shooting, but he had 10 assists, including one to get Samuel Dalembert a dunk and push Dallas' dwindling lead to six at 101-95 with 1:21 remaining.
Stephen Curry led Golden State with 29 points as the Warriors stayed close a night after a tough one-point win in New Orleans.
Klay Thompson and David Lee had 20 points each, while Lee had 12 rebounds and Thompson 10 boards.
The Warriors rallied from 17 down midway through the fourth quarter, but never got closer than four. Thompson shot an air ball on a 3-point attempt in one trip, and Dalembert blocked a shot from long range by Draymond Green with 9.4 seconds left.
Golden State kept the ball after the block, but the Warriors missed twice in a mad scramble to the final buzzer.
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With Ellis' game off the mark, rookie point guard Shane Larkin gave Dallas a spark off the bench. The biggest boost was a running shot off one foot just before the third-quarter buzzer that put Dallas up by 11.
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle broke his rotation and put Larkin back in to try to stem a Golden State rally late in the fourth. He finished with seven points and six assists.
The Mavericks were in control at 99-82 with about 5 minutes left when the Warriors ran off 13 straight points to make it close.
Thompson started the run with a 3-pointer, and it really got going when DeJuan Blair was called for a foul in the backcourt and Ellis was given a technical for an outburst after the whistle.
Curry hit the free throw, Thompson hit another from long range and Curry dribbled between two defenders coming off a screen and hit the jumper to get the Warriors within 99-95.
Thompson had a chance to make it a one-point lead, but shot an air ball on a 3-point attempt from the right wing.
The Warriors were down six in the third when Larkin and Blair started a 12-1 run with one of several tag-team plays -- a short bank shot from Blair on a feed from Larkin. Blair had 11 points and nine rebounds, including seven offensive boards.
Larkin and Draymond Green collided chasing a loose ball on Golden State's end, and Jae Crowder ended up with the ball and a three-point play after he was fouled on a layup by Nemanja Nedovic.
Dallas' Wayne Ellington matched his season high in the first half with six points, including a soaring one-handed dunk on a backdoor cut to give the Mavericks their biggest lead at 47-31 midway through the second quarter.
NOTES: A night after getting season highs in points, rebounds and minutes in his first start, Warriors F Jermaine O'Neal had six points and seven rebounds. ... Warriors C Andrew Bogut returned from a one-game suspension for his role in a scuffle with Portland and had eight points and 10 boards. ... A fan swished a half-court shot to win a 70-inch TV.
