Basketball: Dallas 112 Golden State 103

Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 27 points Thursday and the Mavericks got a huge game from their bench in fighting off Golden State 112-103. Dallas won its second straight and moved into sixth place by itself in the Western Conference, a half game in front of both Houston and Denver. The Mavericks have only a small cushion in their bid to ensure a playoff berth since they have a mere two-game lead over ninth-place Utah. Golden State trailed by 14 at halftime, but closed within three early in the fourth period. Dallas then went on a 12-4 run to pull away and went on to hand the Warriors their third straight setback. Dallas got 57 points from its bench, including 16 each from Jason Terry and Brandan Wright. Nowitzki was the only Dallas starter in double digits. Jason Kidd narrowly missed a triple double for the Mavericks, scoring nine points while grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out 12 assists. David Lee had 30 points for the Warriors and Klay Thompson scored 24.