Mavericks 116, Warriors 91
DALLAS -- There haven't been too many games like Saturday night for Dallas, especially against playoff-caliber teams, but Mavericks caught road-weary Golden State at the right time.
Shawn Marion led a contingent of five scorers in double figures as Dallas found little resistance in routing the Warriors 116-91 at American Airlines Center.
Golden State (30-21) is on a season-high four-game losing streak, with each of the losses coming in the last five nights and all on the road. The Warriors, who lost Friday night at Memphis, return home Tuesday to face Houston in its final game before the All-Star break.
The Mavericks (22-28) are halfway through a four-game homestand leading up to All-Star weekend in Houston. Dallas has won two in row, both against teams that are ahead of the Mavs in the Western Conference standings.
O.J. Mayo added 19 points for Dallas. Darren Collison scored 18, Dirk Nowitzki had 15 and Elton Brand chipped in with 11 off the bench. Marion and Brand each had 11 rebounds.
The Mavericks had the game well in hand by the end of the first quarter. A quick 20-10 lead ballooned to 30-16 at the end of 12 minutes behind 13 points from Collison. And it only got worse from there.
Dallas went into the halftime up 62-36. Nowitzki, playing for the first time against Golden State this season, and Marion joined Collison in double figures. The Mavericks were shooting 51 percent from the field at the break.
Stephen Curry epitomized the Warriors' struggles, making 3 of 15 shots from the field in the first half. David Lee did have 10 points as Golden State limped into the locker room.
Curry finished with 18 points. Carl Landry scored 13 for the Warriors, who had won the previous two meetings against Dallas this season, but neither game was decided by more than four points.
NOTES: Dallas center Chris Kaman (concussion) has missed the past six games. ... Golden State center Andrew Bogut sat out as a precautionary measure. The Warriors were on a second night of back-to-back games, and they were playing their fourth game in five nights. They have not used Bogut in consecutive games since he returned from an ankle injury. ... Several Mavericks have vowed not to shave until the team reaches .500. "The beards are great, but growing a beard is not going to make you play well," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "Growing a beard and everybody doing it and everybody playing hard and everybody being there for each other in the games and making a commitment to play hard and keep things simple, that's what creates success, and I think the guys understand that."
