NEW ORLEANS -- Mike James and Vince Carter buried consecutive three-pointers to pace the Dallas Mavericks to a 104-100 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night at the New Orleans Arena.
The Mavs (25-29) have now won five of their past six games going into Sunday's noon game at home against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Dirk Nowitkzi led the Mavs with 25 points, Carter scored 22, Elton Brand tallied 13, Darren Collison tossed in 11 points, and Shawn Marion and OJ Mayo finished with 10 points apiece.
The Mavs were dealt a crushing loss to the Hornets on Jan. 5 in Dallas, 99-96 in overtime, and it appeared as though they were well on their way to another devastating loss to New Orleans.
Ryan Anderson buried a three-pointer as the shot clock expired that put the Hornets up 100-96 with 55.5 seconds remaining. But James hit a three-pointer with 42.8 seconds left, and Carter added another cold-bloodied three-pointer with 6.5 ticks remaining to give the Mavs a 102-100 lead.
Mayo then forced the inbounds pass off Eric Gordon's knee, and Collison sealed it with a pair of free throws with 3.1 seconds to go.
It appeared as though every time the Mavs were about to blow the game open, the Hornets would find a way to sneak back in it.
After a backcourt violation was charged against Shawn Marion with four seconds left in the third period, the Mavs had a foul to give and rookie Jae Crowder took it with 1.2 seconds remaining. But that was more than enough time for Ryan Anderson to get wide open from three, and he buried it at the buzzer to slice the Mavs' lead to 83-79 entering the fourth quarter.
-- Dwain Price
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