DALLAS — O.J. Mayo scored 10 of 27 points over the final six minutes of the third quarter, when Dallas charged ahead, and the Mavericks held on for a 114-111 victory over the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.
Mayo put Dallas ahead to stay with a 17-foot fadeaway jumper with 43 seconds left in the third quarter to break an 80-all tie. That was part of a 20-8 spurt to end the period against the Knicks (8-2).
Vince Carter had 25 points, including a floater with 6 minutes left that made it 102-90. But that almost wasn’t enough against a Knicks team featuring Jason Kidd and Tyson Chandler, both members of Dallas’ only NBA championship team just two seasons ago.
Chandler had three three-point plays in a 21-10 spurt that followed for the Knicks, who had been the NBA’s only one-loss team.
The last of Chandler’s three-point plays came with 1:37 left, when he was fouled by Carter making a basket and hit the free throw to get the Knicks within 112-109.
After Carter threw up a wild shot at the other end, Kidd grabbed the rebound. Kidd was fouled by Carter and hit both free throws to cut the deficit to one with 1:15 left.
Kidd had a season-high 17 points in his return to Dallas, and was one of six New York players scoring in double figures.
New York had its chances in the final minute. Carmelo Anthony, who had a team-high 23 points, drove to the basket and drew some contact. There was no foul called, even as he stopped and held his chin and mouth.
While Anthony was slow up the court, the Mavs ran down some clock before Darren Collison’s airball with 24 seconds left. The Knicks called timeout, and Anthony had time to recover, but came up short on a go-ahead jumper with 4 seconds left. He then fouled out when he grabbed at Dahntay Jones, who sank two free throws.
Chandler had 21 points and 13 rebounds. Raymond Felton added 18 points, JR Smith 14 and Rasheed Wallace 11.
Collison had 18 points and rookie Jae Crowder 12.
The Mavericks didn’t keep Chandler after the lockout that followed their title, and Kidd signed with New York as a free agent last summer after initially indicating he was staying in Dallas.
Chandler got a nice ovation during pregame introductions, and that was topped by the reception Kidd got when he was the last starter introduced.
Kidd had an assist on Felton’s 3-pointer to start the game, and there were a handful of boos from the crowd when Kidd made an early 3-pointer that put the Knicks up 8-3. There were a few “airball” chants when he came up well short on another 3-pointer right after that.
The Knicks had a 23-13 lead with Felton drove for a layup with 4:27 left in the first quarter. Dallas then scored 11 consecutive points in less than 2 ½ minutes, Collison turning a pass by Elton Brand into a 3-pointer to start the streak before Mayo’s driving layup made it 24-23.
Steve Novak made a 3-pointer with just under a minute left in the first, and the Knicks didn’t trail again until late in the third.