Mavericks contain James in victory

Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James struggled. Fortunately for Nowitzki, the rest of the Dallas Mavericks outplayed James’ teammates.

Nowitzki scored 23 points and Jason Terry added 21 to help the Mavericks beat the Cavaliers for the second time this month, 98-90, Wednesday night at Cleveland.

“Our defense won the game,” said Nowitzki, who made only nine of 24 shots but had nine rebounds and six assists. “LeBron is a great player and will always get his numbers, but we were making him take some tough shots.”

The Mavericks, a league-leading 56-11, have won four in a row and are 3-0 on a six-game trip.

James finished with 31 points but made only 12 of 28 shots for Cleveland, which got only three points from its reserves.

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San Antonio 90, Indiana 72 -- The Spurs clinched a playoff spot and ended a two-game losing streak by beating the visiting Pacers, who have lost two in a row since ending an 11-game slide.

Tim Duncan scored 27 points for the Spurs. Ike Diogu had 14 points for the Pacers, who lost point guard Jamaal Tinsley to a second-quarter ejection after he responded to a foul by throwing the ball high from one end of the court to the other.

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Washington 108, Seattle 106 -- Gilbert Arenas capped his 42-point game by banking in a right-handed runner as time expired at Seattle to help the Wizards maintain their half-game lead over Miami in the Southeast Division. Chris Wilcox led Seattle with 27 points and 22 rebounds.

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Toronto 92, Orlando 85 -- Chris Bosh had 34 points and 16 rebounds in outplaying fellow All-Star big man Dwight Howard (17 points and 12 rebounds) and helping the host Raptors end a two-game losing streak.

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Miami 91, Atlanta 83 -- The Heat took a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter and ended the Hawks’ five-game home winning streak.

Jason Williams had 21 points and eight assists for Miami. Josh Smith scored 27 points for Atlanta.

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Minnesota 95, Sacramento 89 -- The Timberwolves ended an 11-game road losing streak by handing the Kings their seventh loss in their last eight games. Randy Foye scored 24 points and Kevin Garnett had 17 points and 18 rebounds for Minnesota. Mike Bibby scored 23 for Sacramento.

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Charlotte 92, Boston 84 -- The Bobcats used an 18-0 run to overcome a 16-point third quarter deficit in winning at Boston. Raymond Felton had 19 points for the Bobcats.

Paul Pierce scored 23 points for the Celtics but sat out the fourth quarter after opening a cut on the inside of his mouth.