Mavericks 126, Bobcats 99
DALLAS -- A 9-0 run to end the first half followed by a 36-point third quarter powered the Dallas Mavericks to a 126-99 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats in their home opener Saturday night.
The Mavs (2-1) won for the 16th consecutive time against Charlotte and is the only team the Bobcats have never defeated since the franchise came into the league in 2004.
This time, the Mavs were on fire from beyond the 3-point arc, nailing 16 of 25 (64 percent), led by O.J. Mayo and Vince Carter. The two combined for 11 3-pointers, eight more than the entire Charlotte team.
Dallas, which had not played since splitting a two-game road trip with a win at the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday and a blowout loss at the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, hit six of their eight 3-point attempts in the third quarter.
Mayo made three of his seven 3-pointers in the period and finished with a game- and season-high 30 points. Carter, who had four 3-pointers, two in the third quarter, finished with 18 points as six Mavs scored in double figures. One of those was center Chris Kaman, who had 16 points off the bench on 8-of-9 shooting from the field in his Dallas debut.
Mavs point guard Darren Collison continued his hot start with a season-high 18 points after scoring 17 in each of the first two games. He also had 10 assists.
The Mavs shot a scorching 61.3 percent from the field overall.
Ramon Sessions led the Bobcats (1-1) with 22 points and five assists off the bench.
Starting point guard Kemba Walker had just 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting after scoring 30 points in Charlotte's big win over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night. Byron Mullens had 16 points and 10 rebounds and former Mavs center Brendan Haywood posted 14 points and 11 rebounds in his return.
Dallas took a 61-53 lead into halftime over the Bobcats on the strength of Mayo's 16 points and Collison's 13, including a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer that completed a 9-0 run to end the half.
Carter had the hot hand early, hitting all three of his shots from the field in the first quarter, including a 3-pointer for seven of his nine first-half points. Combined with 10 first-quarter points from Mayo, Dallas ran out to a 31-19 lead against a Bobcats team that on Friday in its season opener in Charlotte snapped a 23-game losing streak.
But six Dallas turnovers in the second quarter allowed Charlotte to climb back in the game, with the Bobcats briefly taking the lead a couple of times in the middle portion of the quarter behind aggressive penetrations from Sessions, who had 16 points and four assists in the first half. Haywood had eight points in the first half for the Bobcats.
NOTES: Kaman made his debut with the Mavericks after missing the first two games with a strained right calf. ... Mavs guard Rodrigue Beaubois was inactive after he sprained his right ankle near the end of Friday's practice. ... Dallas signed power forward Troy Murphy on Friday and released center Eddy Curry. ... The last time Charlotte won consecutive games was April 11-13, 2011, the final two games of the 2010-11 season. ... Haywood made his first regular-season appearance back in Dallas since the Mavs waived him through the amnesty process during the offseason.
