Los Angeles - Dirk Nowitzki was at his best at the end to put an end to the Dallas Mavericks' worst start in a decade.

The German juggernaut erupted for seven of his season-high 39 points in overtime and pulled down 15 rebounds as the Mavericks stopped a five-game slide with a 124-114 come-from-behind road victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday.

"We had to get off this losing streak, so whatever I had to do," Nowitzki said. "The team told me to keep shooting and play aggressively."

"Dirk willed the team to win is what he did," said Mavs coach Rick Carlisle of his superstar's late heroics.

Josh Howard had season-highs of 31 points with 14 rebounds, while Jason Terry finished with 20 points for Dallas (3-7) which is off to its slowest start since coming out of the gate 2-8 in the 1998-99 strike shortened campaign.

"It's been a rough two-weeks and a tough way to open the season," Terry said, "We're playing very hard, but the bounces weren't going out way. But tonight, we maintained our concentration throughout the game, and we didn't break down."

"I told the guys, keep playing hard, everyone do their jobs and we'll get the win."

Dallas trailed by as many as 15 points in the second quarter and 112-105 with 2:28 left. But Terry's jumper with 38 seconds left capped a 7-0 closing run that leveled the game. With a final shot at the win, he missed a straight-away jumper at the buzzer.

Nowitzki took over in the extra five-minute session as the Mavericks outscored their hosts 12-2, and held them to 0-9 field goal shooting. The versatile seven-foot forward opened with two free throws and a jumper. After Brandon Bass made one-of-two throws, Nowitzki nailed a 3-pointer with 2:56 left, making it 120-112.

Two free throws by Chris Duhon got the Knicks on the board. However, Howard drained a pair of mid-range jumpers as the Mavericks completed a 19-2 run, bridging the final 7-minutes, 28 seconds, to avoid matching their first six-game slide since Feb. 29-March 9, 2000.

Zach Randolph wasted a 27-point, 18-rebound effort for the Knicks (6-4) who are off to their best start in 10 seasons. Quentin Richardson scored 17 points while Duhon had
16 with 12 assists.

"It's disappointing. We should have won in regulation and didn't," said Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, whose club missed its final 13 floor shots. "We blew our chances and gave them hope. Nowitzki and Howard are pretty good players."

Added D'Antoni: "There will be about 10 of these games and 10 games that we win that we shouldn't. It happens."

Richardson tipped his hat to Nowitzki. "That's why he's a superstar," the Knicks forward said. "A seven-footer, who can play the perimeter like that, he's a match-up nightmare every night. That's why he is who he is. He makes those shots and makes those plays."

Elsewhere: Phoenix Suns 104, Pistons 86 Amare Stoudemire had 29 points and 11 rebounds and the hosts Suns overcame Shaquille O'Neal's first-half ejection to crush the travel-weary Pistons.

The Suns' 7-foot-1, 350-pound giant was immediately tossed with 5:19 left in the second quarter for committing a hard flagrant foul 2 as guard Rodney Stuckey drove to the basket.

Richard Hamilton scored 19, but Allen Iverson finished with just nine for the Pistons (7-3) who snapped the LA Lakers' season-opening seven-game winning streak on Friday night

Denver Nuggets 90, Minnesota Timberwolves 84 Chauncey Billups scored 26 points, Carmelo Anthony had 14 with 12 rebounds and the Nuggets won for the fifth time in the last six games.

Al Jefferson had 20 points with 14 rebounds for visiting Minnesota (1-8) which has lost eight straight since its opening night win over Sacramento.

Orlando Magic 90, Charlotte Bobcats 85 Turkish sharpshooter Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points and Frenchman Mickael Pietrus added 18 as the visiting Magic overcame an off-night by Dwight Howard to bounce the Bobcats.

Orlando's All-Star centre finished with just four points before fouling out in just 26 minutes. Gerald Wallace led the Bobcats (3-6) with 19 points and nine boards.

Toronto Raptors 107, Miami Heat 96 Chris Bosh scored 27 points, while Jermaine O'Neal had 11 points with 18 rebounds as the Raptors (6-4) ended a modest two-game skid.

Toronto's Will Solomon collected 15 points and 11 assists in place of Spanish point guard Jose Calderon, who sat out with a strained right hamstring.

Dwyane Wade topped the Heat (5-5) with 29 points.

San Antonio Spurs 90, Sacramento Kings 88 Michael Finley scored 21 points and Tim Duncan had 20, including the game-winner basket with 15.5 seconds left as the visiting Spurs (4-5) edged the Kings.

John Salmons led Sacramento (4-7) with a season-best 31 points. (dpa)