Mavericks on 2nd 12-Game Winning Streak

Friday, January 5th 2007, 6:22 am

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ The Dallas Mavericks already have their second dozen, and the best record in the NBA. Not bad for a team that started 0-4 after it ended last season by blowing a two-game lead with four straight losses in the NBA finals.

Dallas has its second 12-game winning streak of the season after a 100-91 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night, when Devin Harris scored 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter for the defending Western Conference champion.

``I don't think about win streaks,'' said Josh Howard, who has back-to-back NBA player of the week awards. ``We're just trying to better ourselves as a team. It's just another streak to me. We've just got to keep on playing ball.''

That's what the Mavericks (26-7) have to do because they play again Friday night at San Antonio. They have a chance to extend their winning streak and an already three-game Southwest Division lead over the rival Spurs.

``That's a big game, a big rivalry for us,'' Jason Terry said. ``It's going to be a grind.''

In the only other NBA games Thursday night, Detroit beat New Orleans 92-68, and the Los Angeles Lakers edged Sacramento 132-128 in overtime.

With Terry struggling against Indiana, the Mavericks depended on Harris. The skinny guard kept driving to the basket, making all four of his shots in the fourth quarter on layups.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Harris scored on three straight drives in a 92-second span to put the Mavs ahead for good. They had led only briefly before that.

Harris' first layup with 9 minutes left got Dallas within 80-79. After Erick Dampier blocked a shot, Terry got the rebound and passed to Harris for a fast-break drive that put the Mavericks ahead to stay. After Indiana missed two more shots, Harris was fouled on another drive and hit two free throws for an 83-80 lead.

Terry had only one point and three turnovers while playing 19 minutes, a season low and 15 below his average. That's because coach Avery Johnson stuck with Harris.

``He saw I wasn't being aggressive, so he changed it and it worked,'' said Terry, who was 0-for-4 shooting.

Added Harris: ``Nobody has a perfect game. That's what's good about our team. We pick each other up when it's needed.''

The Mavericks are 26-3 since the 0-4 start, which they ended with the first 12-game winning streak. Their last loss was 101-79 on Dec. 11 at Utah, where they play Tuesday to wrap up the upcoming three-game road swing that includes the Los Angeles Lakers.

Dallas is the 20th team in the NBA with two 10-game winning streaks in the same season. The only team to accomplish it faster in a season was the 1971-72 Lakers, who had a pair of 11-game winning streaks in the first 31 games.

Harris' 24 points were his most in a regular season game. He had 30 in a playoff game last season.

Howard had 25 points and 11 rebounds and Dirk Nowitzki, still bothered by sinus problems that forced him to miss a game Sunday, had 20 points in 36 minutes.

Al Harrington had 24 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana, which played its first game in 2007 after being off since a home loss to Charlotte on Saturday night. Jermaine O'Neal had 20 points and a season-high 16 rebounds for the Pacers.

Harris wasn't finished after his surge that put Dallas ahead for good.

With 5 minutes left, Harris drove for another layup to extend the lead to 90-85. After Harrington's turnover in the final minute, Harris punctuated his night with another breakaway, making the layup while being fouled and then adding the free throw to make it 100-89.

``They just out-executed us in those last 12 minutes,'' Harrington said.

``Our undoing was five turnovers for nine points in the fourth quarter. They turned up the pressure on us and we needed to handle it better,'' coach Rick Carlisle said. ``We showed that we can certainly play with this caliber of team, but to win you've got to be a little more solid in some areas.''

Jerry Stackhouse, back after missing six games with a sprained left ankle, gave the Mavs their first lead when his 20-footer from the top of the key made it 37-36 with 5 minutes left in the first half.

Stephen Jackson hit a short turnaround jumper at the other end, but Stackhouse promptly made a 9-footer. Harrington then had a bad pass that Harris turned into a fast-break layup and a 41-38 lead, the largest for Dallas before halftime.

Lakers 132, Kings 128, OT

Kobe Bryant overcame a scoreless opening 16 minutes to finish with 42 points, and visiting Los Angeles blew a 21-point lead before rallying for the overtime victory.

Bryant fed Smush Parker for the game-tying shot in the final second of regulation for one of his nine assists, then scored on the opening possession of overtime to give the Lakers the lead for good in the first meeting of the season between these two fierce California rivals.

Brian Cook added 26 points, Luke Walton scored 16 and Andrew Bynum had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers. Mike Bibby led the Kings with 38 points.

Pistons 92, Hornets 68

At Oklahoma City, Richard Hamilton scored 27 points and Detroit hardly missed Chauncey Billups.

The Pistons snapped a three-game losing streak as the Hornets were unable to climb out of a 26-point halftime hole without starters Chris Paul (sprained right ankle), Peja Stojakovic (back surgery) and David West (right elbow surgery).

New Orleans lost for the 10th time in its last 12 games and had its lowest scoring output of the season.