Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard each scored 24 points, and the Dallas Mavericks hit the 55-win mark for the third straight season by beating the Knicks 92–77 last night.

Jason Terry added 15 points for the Mavericks, who pulled away from the short-handed Knicks early in the second half and improved the NBA’s best record to 55–11. They have won three in a row after losing consecutive games for first time since starting 0-4.

Erick Dampier had 10 points and 13 rebounds, and Howard grabbed 10 boards as the deeper Mavs wore down the Knicks and shot 53 percent from the field. Reserve Jerry Stackhouse scored 10 points.

Dallas improved to 2–0 on a sixgame road trip that opened Sunday with a victory at Eastern Conference-leading Detroit. The Mavericks visit Cleveland, right behind the Pistons in the East standings, on Wednesday.

Eddy Curry had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who are playing without the injured Jamal Crawford, David Lee, and Quentin Richardson, and have lost three of four.

In addition, Stephon Marbury left with about 5 1/2 minutes remaining with what looked like an injury to his left arm; Channing Frye missed most of the second half after getting poked in the right eye; and Curry played through a back problem that forced him to miss the morning shootaround.

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NUGGETS 94, NETS 90 Carmelo Anthony scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and the Denver Nuggets won their fifth straight game with a 94–90 victory over the Nets last night.

Allen Iverson added 20 points and a clinching free throw in the final seconds in helping the Nuggets win for the first time in New Jersey since 2000. It also marked the first time this season that Denver has won a game (1–21) when scoring less than 99 points.

Vince Carter had 29 points and nine assists for the Nets, but he was called for walking with 45 seconds to play, and missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 12 seconds to go.

Marcus Camby and Steve Blake had 10 points apiece for the Nuggets, while Richard Jefferson had 18 points for the Nets, who had won nine of 10 against Denver.

The Nuggets, who built a 13-point lead late in the third quarter, needed Anthony to hold off the Nets in the fourth quarter.

After New Jersey drew within 82–80 on a jumper by Eddie House, Anthony scored six straight points to push the lead to 88–80 on a 3-pointer with 4:56 to go.

A six-point run that Carter capped with a rebound follow got New Jersey within 88–86 with 3:17 to play.

After Iverson hit a layup and Carter followed with a dunk, Anthony made a power move inside and converted a three-point play for a 93–88 edge with 1:38 to go.

Two free throws by Jefferson got New Jersey within 93–90, but the Nets could not score the rest of the way. Iverson closed the scoring with a free throw after Carter’s missed 3-pointer.