DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki wanted more help. He sure got it — just when the Dallas Mavericks needed it too.
In his first game since grumbling about his teammates deferring to him too much, No-witzki scored 20 points over the first three quarters, then watched Jason Terry and Josh Howard carry the Mavericks the rest of the way in a 106-101 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
Terry scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and Howard had eight of his 11, to make sure the Mavericks got a split of their four-game homestand. Their contributions were especially important because Nowitzki failed to score in the final period, missing his only two shots.
“Josh was aggressive, making plays there in the fourth and Jet was on fire there late, so it was fun to watch,” Nowitzki said.
Dallas eased the load on Nowitzki the entire game, with seven players in double figures. The rest of the key contributors: Erick Dampier with 13 points and 10 rebounds, Jason Kidd with 10 points and 10 assists, J.J. Barea with 11 points and Shawn Marion with 10.
“That’s the way this team was built,” Terry said. “That hasn’t been there for us this season, but we know in the near future it’s going to be there and be consistent. Hopefully this is the one we look back on and say, ‘Hey . . . that’s the blueprint.’ “
If so, this was a good time to find it. Dallas is headed out for a four-game road trip that starts tonight in Denver (against the team that ousted the Mavs from last season’s playoffs) and ends in Los Angeles against the Lakers.
Terry pointed out that for all the emphasis on Dallas’ scoring, the club’s biggest improvement this season is on defense. It sure didn’t look that way at the start of this game, with Zach Randolph facing little resistance around the basket.
Randolph made nine consecutive shots and scored 21 of Memphis’ first 39 points, helping the Grizzlies go ahead by 10. Finally, the Mavericks started double-teaming him and things began to change.
Randolph went without a field goal — and only took about three shots — from 9:42 of the second quarter to 9:43 of the fourth quarter. By then, Dallas had taken control.
Nowitzki powered a 14-3 run early in the third quarter that lifted the Mavs from trailing by four to leading by seven. The Grizzlies never went back ahead, but they did get within 97-96 with 2:20 left.
“We stopped doing what we were doing that got us the lead,” Randolph said. “We needed to attack the basket more.”
