Dallas holds off Knicks

Josh Howard scored 19 points, Jason Kidd added 16, and the Mavericks overcame a subpar game from Dirk Nowitzki to beat the New York Knicks, 99-94, last night in Dallas.

Nowitzki, the NBA's fourth-leading scorer, was 3 of 13 from the floor and scored 10 points, just 2 more than his season low.

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said after the game that Nowitzki played with a temperature of 101 degrees. Nowitzki shrugged it off, saying he had a "head cold," and that his performance had more to do with the Knicks throwing constant double teams at him.

Nowitzki missed his final seven shots.

"When it was winning time, I didn't have a great rhythm shooting the ball," Nowitzki said. "I was able to get some assists when they double-teamed me."

One of Nowitzki's seven assists gave Dallas the lead for good. He found Kidd open for a 24-foot jumper that put the Mavericks on top, 87-86, with 5:44 left.

Knicks center Eddy Curry, who missed the first 33 games with a knee injury, saw his first action of the season. He entered with 2:42 left in the first quarter and scored on a layup just more than a minute later.

That was Curry's only shot attempt in 2 1/2 minutes of action. He also grabbed two rebounds.

Antoine Wright had 13 points, Brandon Bass added 12, and Jason Terry 10 for the Mavericks.

Spurs 106, Clippers 84 - Tony Parker scored 19 points and host San Antonio beat Los Angeles, giving the Spurs their ninth win in the last 10 games despite getting only 8 points from Tim Duncan. The Clippers have lost nine straight, the longest skid in the NBA this season.