Reigning NBA champions Dallas seized sole possession of their division lead by beating state rivals the San Antonio 101-100 thanks to guard Jason Terry’s superb 34-point game.
Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki returned to the lineup on Sunday and scored 10 points for the Mavericks who were coming off an impressive 116-101 win over Utah two days earlier.
Nowitzki missed four games with a sore right knee and looked rusty at times Sunday. He shot a disappointing five-of-14 from the field but had 13 rebounds for Dallas who won their fifth game in the past six.
In Miami, The Heat won the battle of the Eastern Conference giants, beating the Chicago Bulls 97-93 behind a sparkling 35-point performance from LeBron James.
It marked the first game between the teams since the Heat eliminated the Bulls in five games during the semi-finals of last year’s playoffs.
“In many regards it was a typical Miami-Chicago basketball game,” said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. “To get the win showed some toughness and resiliency.”
Former two-time league Most Valuable Player James also had 11 rebounds and five assists for the Heat who have won four in a row and seven of their last eight games overall.
Chris Bosh finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds while Dwyane Wade had 15 points for Miami who are now one game back of the Bulls in the conference standings.
Reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose had 34 points, six rebounds and six assists for Chicago who have a league best 17 wins to go with just five losses.
The Los Angeles Lakers reversed their recent road fortunes with a victory at Minnesota, holding off the tenacious Timberwolves 106-101.
Kobe Bryant scored 35 points and Pau Gasol added 28 as the Lakers also ended a team-record streak of 13 straight games of fewer than 100 points.
Bryant set a Lakers record in the second quarter when he made his 9,936th career field goal, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar atop the club career list.
He finished by making 14 of his 29 attempts from the floor and has a career total of 9,946 field goals.
The Lakers superstar, however, was more pleased to get a rare road victory, just the team’s second in nine away games in this lockout-shortened season.
“Hopefully we can take this and learn from it,” said Bryant, who thought the Lakers played better than they did in a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.
Elsewhere, it was a night of triumph for visiting teams as Indiana Pacers pounded the slumping Orlando Magic 106-84, Cleveland Cavaliers edged the Celtics 88-87, Toronto Raptors routed the New Jersey Nets 94-73, Atlanta Hawks thumped New Orleans 94-72 and LA Clippers trimmed the Denver Nuggets 109-105.
