DALLAS -- The NBA's best team was in town Wednesday night. But that didn't seem to bother the Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavs got 27 points from OJ Mayo and 25 from Vince Carter and went on to upset the powerful Knicks, 114-111, at American Airlines Center. Dallas is now 7-6 on the season and will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday before opening a two-game road trip Tuesday in Philadelphia.
On paper, the Knicks appeared to have an edge on the Mavs. The Knicks came in with the NBA's best record at 8-1, while the Mavs were losers in five of their last seven games.
But none of that mattered to the Mavs, who put on spirited show in the second half in chasing down the Knicks.
Down by just one point, New York had a chance to win it. But Carmelo Anthony missed a 17-footer over Shawn Marion with five seconds left.
Dahntay Jones grabbed the rebound and Anthony fouled out on the play. Jones buried the two free throws with 3.3 seconds left and Felton Spencer's wild halfcourt shot at the buzzer missed its mark.
The Mavs built a 12-point lead (102-90) with 5:59 left, only to see the Knicks rally and cut it to 112-111 on a pair of free throws by Jason Kidd with 1:15 left.
In additon to Mayo and Carter, the Mavs also got 19 points from Darren Collison and 12 from Jae Crowder.
Anthony led the Knicks with 23 points and Felton added 21 points and 11 assists. Also for the Knciks, Jaosn Kidd had 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals, and Tyson Chandler added 21 points and 13 rebounds.
The Knicks led 72-64 with 6:07 left in the third period following a three-point basket by Kidd. The Mavs called timeout and during the timeout some kid won a 60-inch TV when he buried a halfcourt shot.
That ignited the crowd and the Mavs, who woke up and immediately went on a 29-10 scoring spree to assume a 93-82 lead with 9:14 remaining in the game. The Knicks got within 102-95 when Kidd connected on yet another three-pointer with 5:12 left.
But in the end, the Mavs were able to hold off the Knicks.
-- Dwain Price
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@dwainprice
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