EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Richard Jefferson scored 28 points, and the Nets beat Dallas 100-89 Sunday for their first victory over the Mavericks in six years.

Vince Carter added 23 points for the Nets, who have won five in a row overall and 18 of 21 at home. Jason Kidd rebounded from a pair of quiet scoring games to add 15 points, including a pair of jumpers to halt Dallas’s momentum after the Mavs twice got within 11 early in the fourth quarter.

New Jersey had lost 11 straight meetings since its last victory over Dallas on March 2, 2000. The Nets’ worst loss of the season came in a 110-77 Mavericks rout on January 14.

This time it was the Nets who rolled, leading by double digits for nearly all of the final 40 minutes and knocking the Mavs out of a share of the top spot in the Western Conference. Dallas fell a half-game behind Southwest Division rival San Antonio.

Dirk Nowitzki tied his season high with 37 points, but he got off to a horrible start right along with the rest of his teammates in the Mavericks’ lowest scoring quarter of the season. Dallas scored only 10 points in the first 12 minutes and had its three-game winning streak snapped.

Nenad Krstic had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Nets, who led by as many as 25 points. Kidd added nine assists.

The Mavs missed 13 of their first 14 shots while the Nets quickly seized control. They had a double-digit lead a little more than halfway through the quarter, and it ballooned to 22-6 when Kidd set up Jefferson for an alley-oop dunk on the break with 2:25 remaining.

The lead grew to 21 on Jefferson’s jumper with 45 seconds left and the Nets were up 29-10 at the end of the quarter. Dallas shot 4-for-22 (18%) in the period, with Nowitzki going 1-of-8 for his two points.

Midway through the second quarter, the Mavs had more turnovers (seven) than field goals (six) and trailed 41-18. The Nets settled for a 53-32 lead at halftime, with Jefferson going 7-of-8 for his 17 points.

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HEAT 111, KNICKS 100 Dwyane Wade had 30 points, nine assists, and five rebounds to help the Miami Heat beat the Knicks 111-100 last night.

Miami has won five straight and 15 of 16 to improve to 45-21.

Wade scored 16 points in the third quarter on a series of acrobatic moves. He was 5-for-5 from the field in the period, including an alley-oop dunk off a half-court pass from Jason Williams that gave the Heat a 72-63 lead.

Williams had 21 points, nine assists, and six rebounds for Miami, which has won its last six games away from home. Shaquille O’Neal added 18 points, but was 0-for-6 from the foul line and was limited by foul trouble. His backup, Alonzo Mourning, was a force on the defensive end, recording eight blocked shots.

The Knicks (19-46) saw their twogame winning streak stopped. The Knicks were trying to win three straight games for the first time since winning six in a row from January 2-13.

Eddy Curry scored 18 points to lead six Knicks in double figures. Jamal Crawford added 16 points. Jalen Rose had all 14 of his points in the first half. Jerome James matched his season-high with 13 points.

Miami led 49-46 at the half, but New York opened the third quarter scoring five of the first seven points to tie the game at 51. The Heat then went on an 11-2 run with Williams and Wade scoring all the points to take a 62-53 lead. New York closed to within four, but could get no closer as the Miami backcourt proved to be too much.