Los Angeles  - J. J. Barea's big second half gave the Dallas Mavericks a victory. His teammates almost gave it back.

Barea scored 20 of his 22 points after halftime Saturday night and the host Mavericks survived a furious late surge by the Atlanta Hawks for a 100-98 victory, their ninth win in
10 games.

German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points and Jason Terry added 19 for Dallas, which nearly blew a 17-point lead in the last

five minutes. Nevertheless, the Mavs have won four in a row overall and five straight at home.

"We got another win," Terry said. "We're disappointed with the way we finished. But we're excited about the way we played for 45 minutes."

A 6-foot guard from Puerto Rico in his third year, Barea established a season high for the third straight game. Making his second consecutive start alongside Jason Kidd, he managed just two points in the first half but caught fire in the third quarter with 16 points.

"My teammates are showing a lot of confidence in me," said Barea, who has scored in double figures in four of his last five games. "Those are my teammates. They are telling me things that are making me a lot better. I just want to go out there and do my best every night."

With veteran Jerry Stackhouse not playing as he awaits a trade, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle used Terry, Antoine Wright and Gerald Green at shooting guard before trying Barea. He admitted he had doubts about Barea's ability to handle the position.

"Would I have predicted it? No," Carlisle said.

Barea scored 10 straight Dallas points across the third and fourth quarters, giving the Mavericks a 78-63 advantage with 10:27 to play. The lead was 88-71 when the Hawks began their comeback.

Atlanta rattled off 11 straight points capped by a 3-pointer by Joe Johnson, who scored 32 points. Dallas appeared safe after consecutive jumpers by Terry rebuilt the lead to 94-84 with 1:53 to play, but Atlanta kept charging.

Johnson made a 3-pointer and steal that set up another 3-pointer by Mike Bibby, who got behind the defense for a layup on the next possession to pull the Hawks within
94-92 with 44 seconds remaining.

"We just kept playing," Bibby said. "We got stops. We were getting easy points and we were getting layups. Joe hit some big shots."

Josh Smith stole the ball from Nowitzki and dribbled upcourt, but Kidd stole it back and hit Brandon Bass with a courtlength pass for a dunk.

Bibby buried another 3-pointer to make it 96-95 with 23 seconds to go, but Terry made two free throws. Johnson's potential tying 3-pointer bounced right to Kidd, who found Bass with another long pass for the clinching dunk with three seconds to play.

Bass scored a season-high 14 points and Nowitzki and Erick Dampier each swept 11 rebounds for Dallas, which shot 48 percent (40-of-84) and held a 48-39 edge on the boards.

Bibby scored 21 points and Georgia's Zaza Pachulia added 13 and 12 rebounds for the Hawks, who played without injured starting center Al Horford and had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Cleveland 94, Charlotte 74=

LeBron James scored 25 points in three quarters as the visiting Cavaliers romped to their eighth straight win. Cleveland has won by at least 12 points in every game of the streak.

Phoenix 106, Utah 104=

Brazil's Leando Barbosa scored 25 points and Amar'e Stoudemire had 22 and 20 rebounds to help the host Suns end a four-game skid. Russia's Andrei Kirielnko scored
17 points and Turkey's Mehmet Okur added 13 and 12 boards for the Jazz.

San Antonio 123, Golden State 88=

Tim Duncan had 20 points and 13 rebounds as the Spurs mauled the visiting Warriors, who have lost nine in a row.

Denver 118, Sacramento 85

Brazil's Nene scored nine of his 16 points in a huge first quarter as the visiting Nuggets ran away from the Kings, who have lost eight straight overall and eight in a row at home.

New Orleans 106, Memphis 87=

Chris Paul had 21 points and 11 assists and Serbia's Peja Stojakovic scored 20 points for the Hornets, who have won six of seven. Spanish rookie Marc Gasol scored 21 points for the Grizzlies.

Miami 105, Oklahoma City 99=

NBA scoring leader Dwyane Wade had 38 points as the Heat won their third consecutive game, their longest streak since April 2007. Rookie Russell Westbrook scored 30 points for the visiting Thunder, who fell to 1-7 under interim coach Scott Brooks.

New Jersey 95, Philadelphia 84=

Devin Harris made two of New Jersey's 11 3-pointers and scored 27 points as the Nets won their fourth straight road game. Philadelphia has lost four in a row at home.

LA Clippers 107, Minnesota 84=

Baron Davis had 27 points and nine assists as the visiting Clippers ended a three-game slide. Al Jefferson scored 28 points in the Timberwolves' fifth straight loss.

Chicago 117, Washington 110=

Luol Deng scored a season-high 26 points to lead six players in double figures to lift the host Bulls past the Wizards, who got 27 points from Caron Butler. (dpa)