Dallas puts on long-range shooting exhibition against the Utah Jazz

DALLAS, Texas - The Dallas Mavericks squandered a 25-point first-half lead before Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry saved them down the stretch.

Nowitzki had 31 points and 15 rebounds, and he combined with Terry for Dallas' final 21 points as the Mavericks extended their winning streak to 12 games with a 103-97 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.

The Mavericks raced to a 29-4 lead midway through the first quarter, then had to rally down the stretch behind Terry's 12 fourth-quarter points and Nowitzki's nine.

"They slowly chipped away and chipped away and finally tied the game there in the fourth, and we had to really dig deep, grind it out and get some stops," Nowitzki said. "(Terry) got hot at the right moment which really helped, and made shots for us down the stretch. ... We definitely made it harder on ourselves than we should have."

Nowitzki went 10 for 12 from the floor.

"He's on a great run," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "You're not going to shoot 10 for 12 every night, but a guy of his skill level is capable of it."

DeShawn Stevenson added a season-high 17 points, going 5 of 7 from 3-point range, and Caron Butler had 16 points for Dallas.

The Mavericks put on a long-range shooting clinic, hitting 14 of 26 from beyond the arc to prevail in a matchup of Western Conference heavyweights.

Dallas-area native Deron Williams scored 19 of his 34 points in the first half and paced the Jazz, who had won nine of 11. Paul Millsap added 16 points and Ronnie Price scored 14 for Utah.

Dallas made 13 of 18 field goal attempts in the opening quarter, going 7 for 10 from 3-point range, and the Mavericks went on to stretch the NBA's longest current winning streak.

The Mavericks (19-4) are off to their best start since 2002-03 and the second-best in team history.

The Jazz tied it at 89 with 4:31 left on Williams' three-point play, and Utah was within 96-95 with 2:40 remaining on Price's 3-pointer.

But Nowitzki drove for a layup, was fouled and converted the three-point play for a 99-95 lead with 2:19 left.

Al Jefferson's follow shot with 29.9 seconds left got the Jazz within 99-97.

But Nowitzki drew a double-team and passed to Terry for a 3-pointer from the right corner with 7.6 seconds remaining to extend Dallas' lead to 102-97.

"I told Dirk that I'm in the corner and I'm ready," Terry said. "Dirk did a great job drawing the defense. The passer makes the shooter."

The Jazz beat Orlando on the road on Friday night, and the players didn't get into their hotel rooms in Dallas until early Saturday morning.

The fatigue showed early as Dallas bolted to a 16-2 start capped by five consecutive 3-pointers, two by Nowitzki, two from Stevenson and one by Butler.

Associated Press