Nowitzki's 33 Points Not Enough Against the Clippers

Baron Davis had 22 points and 10 assists, foul-plagued Al Thornton got eight of his 17 points in the final 6 minutes and the Los Angeles Clippers snapped a season-opening six-game losing streak with a 103-92 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

Marcus Camby had 14 rebounds and 10 points for the Clippers, who had lost six straight against Dallas. Davis was 8-for-19 from the field after missing 10 of 12 shots in the first half. Tim Thomas sat out because of a sprained left ankle.

Dirk Nowitzki, who missed the final two meetings with the Clippers last season because of ankle and knee injuries, led the Mavericks with 33 points and seven rebounds while Jason Kidd added nine assists and seven points.

Gerald Green started at small forward and had 13 points and 12 rebounds in place of Josh Howard, who was sidelined because of a sore left wrist. The injury occurred during a loss to Cleveland on Nov. 3, and he aggravated it during the fourth quarter of Friday's loss.

Jason Terry, who missed his first 11 shots, ended the drought on a 22-footer with 9½ minutes to play. The basket triggered an 8-0 run that tied the score 79-all with 8½ minutes left. Terry added a layup and capped the run with an 18-footer, but they never could get the lead after that and went 4 minutes before making another field goal.

The Clippers put the game away with a 13-0 run that included eight points by Thornton and a 3-pointer by Davis.

Thornton hit a 17-footer with 9½ minutes left in the third quarter, triggering a 14-3 run that gave the Clippers a 65-54 lead with 5:23 left in the period. Davis capped the rally with a 3-pointer and a free throw.

The Clippers led 47-45 at halftime without anyone on the team scoring more than eight points. Thornton went to the bench with 7:37 left in the first quarter after picking up his first two fouls 9 seconds apart. He got his third with 5:17 left in the second quarter, just 14 seconds after he reported back in.

Terry made a new fan in the first quarter. He ran across the court from the Mavericks' bench to give a headband to a 4-year-old boy who was crying after Dirk Nowitzki crashed into him trying to keep the ball inbounds.