ESPN

Mavericks guard Jason Kidd was one of six NBA players selected by a five-member panel of former players as divisional winners for the 2011-12 NBA Sportsmanship Award.

The NBA Sportsmanship Award, designed to honor a player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court, is voted on by NBA players. The NBA will announce the winner after the regular season.

The other regional winners are Cleveland’s Antawn Jamison, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul, Miami’s Shane Battier, Minnesota’s Luke Ridnour and New York’s Jeremy Lin.

Former NBA players Greg Anthony, John Crotty, Antonio Davis, Eddie Johnson and Kenny Smith selected the six divisional winners from a pool of 30 team nominees. Each team nominated one of its players for this award.

The annual award reflects the ideals of sportsmanship -- ethical behavior, fair play and integrity -- in amateur and professional basketball, a key focus of the league’s NBA Cares program efforts.

ALL-TIME NBA SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD WINNERS
Inaugural: Joe Dumars (1996)
1996-97: Terrell Brandon, Cleveland
1997-98: Avery Johnson, San Antonio
1998-99: Hersey Hawkins, Seattle
1999-00: Eric Snow, Philadelphia
2000-01: David Robinson, San Antonio
2001-02: Steve Smith, San Antonio
2002-03: Ray Allen, Seattle
2003-04: P.J. Brown, New Orleans
2004-05: Grant Hill, Orlando
2005-06: Elton Brand, Los Angeles Clippers
2006-07: Luol Deng, Chicago
2007-08: Grant Hill, Phoenix Suns
2008-09: Chauncey Billups, Denver Nuggets
2009-10: Grant Hill, Phoenix Suns
2010-11: Stephen Curry, Golden State

Three games in three nights and Jason Kidd is ready to roll. In all three.

"That’s what the plan is," Kidd said. "Why not? We’ve got to try to win all three of these games."

Why not? Because ever since the schedule came out, everyone's speculated which of the three games Kidd would sit out for his own survival. Because in two weeks, he'll turn 39 and by the time he gets through Thursday night's game at Phoenix, Friday's at Sacramento and takes the floor in his hometown of Oakland for Saturday's tip against the Warriors, he'll be playing his fifth game in six nights and ninth in 12. He'll practically be ready to keel over.

"I feel good," Kidd insisted after Tuesday's win over the New York Knicks in which he dropped a season-high 15 points with six assists and four rebounds in 32 minutes, just his fourth 30-minute endeavor in the last 13 games.

A clean sweep against three of the Western Conference's bottom four teams would certainly turn momentum on this current 2-4 stretch in the nine-in-12. Overall, the Mavs have lost six of nine. But, Tuesday's home win over the Knicks served as a huge bounce-back from Monday's tough loss at Oklahoma City.

The Mavs, playing without centers Brendan Haywood (sprained left ankle), who may or may not play Thursday, and Brandan Wright (concussion), who did not make the trip, took the action to the Knicks. One night after getting to the free throw line just 10 times, and complaining about it, the Mavs got there 30 times Tuesday.

They built a big lead, played solid defense and rallied to withstand a New York flurry.

"In the midst of what we're going through right now in terms of frequency of games," coach Rick Carlisle said, "this is as good a win as we've had in a long time."

And it was as good a game as Kidd has played in a long time, as if he was inspired by playing against 23-year-old sensation Jeremy Lin, who grew up in Palo Alto following Kidd's career. Averaging career lows by far, 5.4 points and 5.6 assists, Kidd hit double-digits for just the third time all season and it was just the fourth time he made at least three 3-pointers and the sixth time he made at least half of his 3-point attempts in a game.

And now comes the grinder of three games in a row, something Kidd hasn't done since the lockout-shortened 1999 season with Phoenix, which he vaguely remembers.

"We played all three Texas teams," he said.

Almost. The first of two trifectas started at home against Denver and then went to Houston and San Antonio. How'd he hold up then as a seven-year vet? How do two triple-doubles sound in the first and third games to go 2-1? And check out the three-game averages: 18.7 points, 11.3 assists and 10.6 rebounds. Here's the most remarkable number: Kidd averaged 40.7 minutes.

Those games came in the opening couple weeks of the 50-game season.

The second triple-header came along in late March, starting the day after he turned 26. They were Kidd's 27th, 28th and 29th games of the season. This set seemingly took more of a toll as his stat line went from 23-10-7 to 13-8-8 to 11-6-6 in an average of 40.0 minutes a game.

Tonight's game will be Kidd's 31st of the season and his 15th since returning from a strained right calf, his second injury of this hyper-drive, 66-game schedule. He won't play nearly as minutes as back in the day. But, what about one more triple-double for old-time's sake?

"The body feels good," said Kidd, halfway through his 18th season. "So we’ll see what happens with these three."

Mavericks guard Jason Kidd complained about the referees and a lack of respect for the defending NBA champions Monday night.

Tuesday night it was the Knicks turn.

The Knicks were upset at two non-calls: A possible walk by Dirk Nowitzki, which drew a technical foul on Tyson Chandler for arguing, and Jason Kidd not getting whistled for a flagrant foul on Jeremy Lin.

In the fourth quarter with the Knicks down 86-78, Nowitzki made a six-foot fadeaway with 2:27 to play. After the basket, Chandler and Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni complained about the non-call.

"He traveled on that last shot by the way," Amare Stoudemire said. "I saw the replay."

D'Antoni said Nowitzki traveled at the start and end of his move to the basket.

The other call that bothered the Knicks came in the third quarter.

On a drive to the basket, Lin was knocked to the floor after taking a blow to the head by Kidd. A foul was called on Kidd, but D’Antoni picked up a technical for wanting a flagrant foul called.

"Anytime you just get clobbered in your face, they had to look at it," D’Antoni said, alluding to the referees' failure to look at a replay to determine if a flagrant foul should have been called. “I don’t even mind them looking at it and thinking maybe not. But to ignore it is kind of tough and I deserve the technical, and it’s probably one of those things where they didn’t see it. Maybe it was quick where they didn’t see it. I wanted to protect our guys."

The Nowitzki non-call might have upset the Knicks even more.

Nowitzki had a quiet first half, scoring just four points while going 1-of-8 from the field.

"I knew that wasn’t going to last," D’Antoni said.

Nowitzki scored 24 of his game-high 28 points in the second half, which included 11 in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks survived losing a 14-point fourth quarter lead to win, 95-85.

"It’s never really a shutdown when you’re playing a great player,” said Stoudemire, who led the Knicks with 26 points. “It’s always going to be a battle of two halves. In the first half, we did a great job of containing him. Second half he was able to get it going a little bit, a couple of open shots, a couple of touch shots, a couple of travel shots...he played well."

DALLAS – Linsanity gained lot of believers the last time the Knicks faced the Mavericks.

There has only been one point guard to really light up the Mavs since Shawn Marion became the primary defender of that position. That was Lin, who had 28 points and 14 assists to lead the Knicks to a win over the defending champions in a nationally televised Sunday afternoon matinee at Madison Square Garden last month.

Tyson Chandler laughed after the game when he recalled how his former Mavericks teammates told him they had a plan to shut down Lin, the sudden phenom.

“I guess they were dead wrong in the scouting report,” Chandler said.

Or maybe Marion just had dead legs, which he admitted was a major issue the next week.

We also might not see the Lin-Matrix matchup nearly as much this game. Rodrigue Beaubois, who was on a personal leave during the Mavs’ trip to New York, will take his turns guarding his former summer league teammate. And Carmelo Anthony is back for the Knicks, so Marion might spend most of the night defending the perennial All-Star small forward.

“That's my guess,” Lin said of the Melo assignment for Marion. “We’ll just be ready for whatever they throw out at us. I think he’s a great defender. I actually didn’t think he did a bad job. He forced me into a lot of tough shots. I know he got some fouls and a lot of times he was attacking the pick, it wasn’t necessarily him. Whatever they throw at us we have to be ready for.”

The Mavs better be more ready for Lin than they were last month.

Records: Mavs (22-17); Knicks (18-19)

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: American Airlines Center

TV: FSSW/NBA TV

Radio: ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM; 1270 AM (Spanish)

What to watch: The Mavs, losers of five of their last six games, desperately need a win but might not have much gas in their tank after last night’s down-to-the-wire loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Dirk Nowitzki played 38 minutes, Jason Terry 37 and Marion 36. Will they have enough life in their legs to finish strong if this game goes down to the wire? And can the Mavs figure out how to execute down the stretch even if the energy is there? They haven’t been good in clutch situations all season and have been awful lately, a reversal of the trend during their title run.

Key matchup: Mavs bench vs. Knicks bench – Dallas prides itself in being one of the deepest teams in the league, but the Knicks bench destroyed the Mavs bench last month at Madison Square Garden. Steve Novak lit it up for 14 points in 23 minutes. J.R. Smith had 15 points in his Knicks debut. Lamar Odom was especially dreadful for the Mavs, who were outscored by 17 in Odom’s 20 minutes. The Mavs’ bench is shorter than usual because of injuries, but there’s no reason the Knicks' reserves should be a dominant force.

Injuries: Mavs – C Brendan Haywood (sprained left ankle) is questionable; G Delonte West (fractured right ring finger) is out; C/PF Brandan Wright (concussion) is out. Knicks – G/F Bill Walker (elbow) is out.

Up next: Mavs at Phoenix Suns, 9:30 p.m., Thursday

Here it comes: Nine in 12.

"We've got 32 left and this stretch right after the break is critical obviously -- nine games in 12 days," Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's Galloway & Co. on Friday. "I don't know if that kind of stretch has ever happened. It's happened some this year with teams and this will be the first for this franchise and it's going to be tough, but it's a challenge I'm looking forward to."

Heading into the break Carlisle said he would tell his troops to enjoy the time off and come back ready to roll.

This week starts the much-talked-about nine-in-12 sequence that ends next week with the lone back-to-back-to-back of the season. As for this week, it includes four games in seven nights packed into two home-road back-to-backs.

Here's a look:

Tuesday: vs. New Jersey Nets (10-25), 7:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: FSSW/ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: Welcome back Avery Johnson. Welcome home Deron Williams? The Colony native is high on the Mavs' wish list this summer. And wondering whether Williams will address his pending free agency and his desires is about all the intrigue that the Nets' visit should provide. Now, if the Mavs come out of the break sluggish, they could be dealt an ugly setback coming off Wednesday's home loss to the Lakers. Seven of New Jersey's 10 wins have come on the road, including recent victories at Chicago (without Derrick Rose) and at the Knicks. Still, these guys are 2-8 in their last 10.

Wednesday: at Memphis Grizzlies (19-15), 7 p.m.
TV/Radio: FSSW/ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: This is where things should get interesting. Once upon a time, the Grizzlies couldn't beat the Mavs, never, ever. The tables have turned recently and the young Grizz are a bona fide threat in the West. When (if?) Zach Randolph returns they'll be downright dangerous. The Mavs come into town on the second night of a back-to-back while the Grizzlies will be waiting to resume their season following the All-Star break. They're 13-5 at FedEx Forum and have won seven of 10 overall. None were of landmark quality, but confidence is brimming.

Friday: at New Orleans (8-25), 7 p.m.
TV/Radio: FSSW/ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: The Hornets can jump up and sting, just ask Jeremy Lin. New Orleans went into the break having won four of six games with the victory at Madison Square Garden being the feather in their cap. They don't score much, but they don't give up much either, and the Mavs' big men better keep an eye on Chris Kaman (17.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg last seven games). The Hornets are actually better on the road than at home (3-14), so the Mavs, after a day of rest, need to bear down and make sure they pad their record against a team they should beat.

Saturday: vs. Utah Jazz (15-17), 7:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: FSSW/ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: The wayward Jazz will make their way to Dallas after two home games against Houston and Miami. They face the Mavs the night after playing the Heat. A Utah team that lost 10 of 13 heading into the All-Star break has plummeted out of the playoff mix. The reunion of Devin Harris and Josh Howard just hasn't clicked. With both teams on the second night of a back-to-back and both traveling, this is one in which the Mavs must defend their turf against a spiraling club that is 3-11 on the road.

DALLAS -- If anyone needs the All-Star break, it's Shawn Marion. Badly. The man is exhausted.

After successfully chasing Kobe Bryant for 37 minutes Wednesday night, the latest in a mammoth, eight-game defensive grinder, Marion, the lone Dallas Maverick to play in all 34 games prior to the All-Star break and the indisputable first-half MVP, is deserving of and desperately in need of a recharge.

"Honestly, It’s been really, really, really bad for me," Marion said after the Lakers' 96-91 win in which Marion pressured Bryant into more turnovers (seven) than he made baskets (four). "It hit me in Philly (last Friday); I was tired, I was beat up. It’s not easy trying to fight off and contain these little fast guys and guys who get all these shots up, and I ain’t 27 no more, 25 years old no more. I’m going to do what I can to sustain it and make sure I put ourselves in a position to guard them better."

Since Jason Kidd's return to the lineup at Minnesota on Feb. 10, and because coach Rick Carlisle chose to continue to start Vince Carter at shooting guard instead of re-inserting feisty defender Delonte West, Marion has been charged with not only defending the league's top wing players, but manning up on quicker point guards that Kidd and Carter simply can't keep up with.

West fractured his finger on Feb. 15 and Roddy Beaubois has been away from the team for a week, losses that have exacerbated the backcourt mismatches. The 6-foot-7 Marion is easily the only small forward in the league that can claim a two-week stretch defending Ricky Rubio, Chris Paul, Ty Lawson, Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams, Jeremy Lin, Paul Pierce (in lieu of suspended Rajon Rondo) and then finally Kobe.

Those assignments have boosted his minutes and put a strain on his offense. He's logged between 36 and 38 hard, two-way minutes in three of the last four games, and has averaged 33.5 minutes over his last eight. Marion, 33, caught two breaks with blowouts over two depleted teams, Denver and Boston. Those are the only two games in the last eight in which he's played fewer than 30 minutes.

His offensive game paid the price Wednesday when the Mavs could have used more. He missed 10-of-13 shots and had eight points, yet still corralled eight boards, six offensive. It was the third time he scored in single figures during the eight-game stretch. By the time Marion finished fighting through muscled-up Lakers screens, the last thing he wanted to focus on was the nine games in 12 nights Dallas will play starting Tuesday.

"It’s tough, it’s very tough," Carlisle said, who reflected back on his playing days with the Celtics. "This was always one of the things Kevin McHale always used to joke about and complain about is that [Larry] Bird would be on one end hitting shots on a guy and talking trash to him and then McHale would have to guard that guy on the other end. And when you shoulder the kind of defensive responsibilities that we’re asking Shawn to shoulder, it’s going to take a toll on your offense and every night somebody’s got one of those perimeter players, it doesn't matter who it is."

Marion played "really exceptional" defense, as Carlisle described it, on Bryant, who has scored 29 total points in two games against Marion and the Mavs, equaling his league-leading season average. Marion stripped him in a late-shot clock situation in the third quarter that led to a Dirk Nowitzki 3-pointer. He forced a travel in the fourth by suffocating Byrant along the sideline and then he forced a bad pass.

Bryant finished the game 4-of-15 from the field with 15 points and is 11-of-37 in the two meetings. Yet, the Mavs haven't managed enough offense to win either.

Carlisle has tough decisions to make before the Mavs return to practice on Monday. West's injury complicates things and might hamstring Carlisle from making changes, but the coach has to wonder how much more he can ask of Marion defensively on a nightly basis. When West returns, Carlisle might have no choice but start West and bring Carter off the bench so that West can start games against most opposing point guards.

"The way it’s been going, he’s going to be on that guy," Carlisle said of Marion. "I’d like to give him a break sometimes, but on a night like tonight when we’re down and we’ve got no [Lamar] Odom, we’ve got no Beaubois, we’ve got no West...getting ourselves whole is a lot of what this is going to be about."

Except West won't be ready when the Mavs begin another monster stretch on Tuesday. And Marion, for better or worse, will assume the brunt of it.

Standing in the quiet Dallas Mavericks locker room Sunday at Madison Square Garden, Shawn Marion, tugging on his designer jeans after a long day chasing Jeremy Lin, was reminded that in about 24 hours he'd be at the American Airlines Center warming up for tonight's game against the Boston Celtics.

"Whew," was about all Marion could muster with a shake of the head and a quick rise of the eyebrows.

After weeks of playing four, five and six games a week, to say the Mavs are looking forward to the All-Star break come Thursday is a vast understatement. Only Dirk Nowitzki will be headed to All-Star Weekend in Orlando as a participant, a reserve for the 11th consecutive time for the West squad. Jason Terry will be there doing work with Reebok.

Otherwise, this squad, the oldest in the league, will take a break on Thursday and won't return until Monday. They won't play again until Tuesday when a point guard named Deron Williams comes to town with Avery Johnson and the woebegone New Jersey Nets.

But, first there's a little business to take care of against the Celtics tonight and Kobe Bryant and those Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.

"That's how we like it, we like it tough," Terry said. "These are the type of games you love -- New York, Boston, L.A. What more can you ask for?"

Tonight: vs. Boston Celtics (15-15), 7 p.m.
TV/Radio: TNT/ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: The Celtics enter this one in desperation mode as losers of three in a row. They fell to .500 Sunday and 4-7 on the road with a 96-81 wipeout at the hands of the suddenly hot Detroit Pistons. The Celtics could be rather shorthanded as well with former Mavs forward Brandon Bass nursing a sore left knee, Kevin Garnett's status uncertain due to personal reasons and point guard Rajon Rondo awaiting word from the league on a possible suspension after being ejected against the Pistons. The Mavs will be looking to close out their nine-game run with bounce-back game after falling to the Knicks Sunday afternoon. They beat the Celtics in Boston, 90-85.

Wednesday: vs. Los Angeles Lakers (18-13), 8:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: ESPN, FSSW/ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: The Lakers don't win much on the road, just five times in 16 games, including a 102-90 spanking at Phoenix on Sunday. L.A. will play Portland on Monday before traveling east for a back-to-back at Dallas and Oklahoma City. Last month, Dallas lost a tough, ugly one in L.A. on a Derek Fisher 3-pointer in the final seconds for a 73-70 win. Maybe Dallas can take advantage of a fatigued team. Where the Mavs have concentrated on keeping their stars' minutes, down, Kobe, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum rank near the top of the league in minutes played. Kobe is averaging more than 38 minutes and Gasol is at 37. A victory over the Lakers would send the Mavs into the All-Star break having to feel pretty good about the first half of the season and looking forward to a second half that becomes road-heavy entering March.

One of the game's top coaches today and one of the game's all-time best point guards certainly believe Jeremy Lin is no fluke.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle and Jason Kidd were highly complimentary of the one-time Mavs summer-league hand after he had 28 points and 14 assists to lead the New York Knicks past Dallas.

"He played terrific," Carlisle said. "He was good in the pick-and-roll and more than anything he lined us up one-on-one. He threw in two or three shots at the end of the shot clock, and one or two of them were 3. You have to give him credit, he’s playing great."

And Carlisle and Kidd believe he can continue to play great because of coach Mike D'Antoni and the offensive system he employs. As Carlisle noted, Steve Nash was a two-time All-Star when he left Dallas to play under D'Antoni with the Phoenix Suns. It didn't take long for Nash to become a two-time MVP.

"He's in a situation where the system is right for him and he's got the right coach," Carlisle said. "Mike D'Antoni's as good a coach of point guards as we've seen in this league in a decade. Lin is in a good position, he's with the right coach and they've got the right personnel around him."

Kidd said he is impressed by Lin, who has closely followed Kidd's career and told him so as the players took the court. Both hail from the San Francisco area.

"He's playing extremely well and he's taking D'Antoni's offensive system and he looks a little bit like Steve Nash out there. Nash has had a lot of success running that system and I got to go through that system in the Olympics and it's a point guard's dream."

NEW YORK -- Jason Terry didn't agree with the flagrant foul called on him against a streaking Jeremy Lin with 4:45 to go in the first quarter. And apparently, Lin didn't it either.

"He told me right after that," Terry said. "Again, it's part of the game. He's a tough kid, he took it and they came back and did everything they needed to do to win the game."

The Knicks ran away with the game late 104-97, but it was a 17-0 run in the first quarter that Mavs coach Rick Carlisle tabbed as a major reason why Dallas saw its six-game winning streak snapped. After the Mavs took an 18-13 lead, they committed consecutive turnovers. The first by Jason Kidd led to a Lin layup, and the second, a steal by Lin on Dirk Nowitzki, led to a Lin breakaway.

Terry ran up behind Lin and bumped him. Lin fell to the ground and the Madison Square Garden crowd went berserk. Terry got hit with a flagrant.

"I don't think it was a flagrant foul," said Terry, who had 13 points in his return from missing the last two games. "The league can look at it and rescind it if they want to. If not, I'll take the hit. Even Lin said it wasn't a flagrant foul. They're an emotional team, they play well in their building and that play did spearhead a run. But we answered and responded with our own run and just didn't get it done."

Terry said he planned to foul Lin to prevent the breakaway.

"I definitely ran into him and that was my intention, to take the foul in the open court and not allow him to get a layup," Terry said. "Maybe I could have wrapped him up. It would have looked less heinous, but I didn't lower the shoulder or anything. I ran into him, he fell and they called it."

Terry said the officials got caught up in the emotion of the game.

"They called it on emotion. Once they heard the reaction of the crowd then they made the call," Terry said. "That call didn't necessarily win or lose the game for either team and it's just part of the game."

NEW YORK -- Turnover talk entering Sunday's game was targeted on Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin and the 45 he's had as a starter.

He coughed up seven more, but the Mavericks didn't make them count because they went turnover-for-turnover with the Knicks, 19-19, allowing 27 gift-wrapped points to wind up meaningless.

Lamar Odom had two turnovers in the final 1:45 of a flawed end to the third quarter. He got called for charge and then got caught in the backcourt, lost his balance and threw a pass right to Lin for a dunk that got the Knicks to within 75-72 after they'd trailed 70-58 a few minutes earlier. It was part of a horrible game for Odom, who matched his turnovers with two points on 1-of-6 shooting.

Dirk Nowitzki ended the game with a turnover after he thought he was fouled in the corner on a double-team. The Mavs trailed 102-97 at the time and Nowitzki was trying to get a shot off after Jason Terry and Jason Kidd missed on 3-point attempts. But Nowitzki lost the ball and threw his arms up at the refs, and he and the Mavs didn't even try to chase down Tyson Chandler, whose dunk put the finishing touches on a 104-97 victory.

Eleven of Dallas' 19 turnovers came in the second half with six coming in a third quarter that was within their total control.

"We had to work too hard to get the lead," Marion said of coming back from a 32-20 first-quarter deficit. "And we just gave it away."

Consecutive first-quarter turnovers by Kidd and then Nowitzki ignited a 17-0 New York run after Dallas led 18-13. Nowitzki's turnover led to a fastbreak and flagrant foul on Jason Terry against Lin.

"I thought the two things that did us in were the 17-0 run in the first quarter after the flagrant foul; we went from up five to down 12," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "And the run that they made at the end of the third."

It was the Knicks who opened the third quarter by throwing it around the gym. Nowitzki got hot early and scored 13 in the period as the Mavs appeared to take control.

Then it was the Mavs' turn to get sloppy. Kidd had three of his team-high five turnovers -- giving him the rare game when his turnover total was more than his assist total (four) -- in the second half. Nowitzki finished with four turnovers and four others had two each.

NEW YORK -- How it happened: The former Dallas Mavericks player that this day was supposed to be all about, Tyson Chandler, had another typically solid game with 14 points and 10 rebounds. But it was two players that all but had a cup of coffee with the Mavs that inflicted enough damage to send them to their first loss since Feb. 4

Steve Novak, who lasted half a season with Dallas last year, hit four consecutive 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter as part of an 18-6 run that put the Knicks up 90-81, a lead they would not relinquish despite the Mavs' best effort to claw back. Jeremy Lin hit the final 3 in the sequence, exchanging a few dribbles from hand to hand in front of Dirk Nowitzki before popping the 3 and popping the lid off off Madison Square Garden.

Lin was, well, Linsational and at times it was pure Linsanity. He had 12 points and six assists in an impressive first half and he was even better in the second half -- despite a rash of turnovers -- driving and shooting for a total of 28 points, 14 assists and four rebounds. Jason Terry, back after missing two games, said before the game that all the attention surrounding Lin was just a lot of hype.

Lin's final assist, a lob out to sprinting J.R. Smith for a layup, gave New York a 102-97 lead with 28.5 seconds to play. The play started off a long rebound after a Terry 3 from the right wing for the tie banged off the back iron.

On the next possession, Nowitzki thought he got fouled in the corner by two Knicks, but nothing was called and he and the Mavs stood watching as Chandler threw down the final bucket of the game.

When the buzzer sounded, 18-year Mavs vet Jason Kidd, who had eight points and four assists, was the first to hug Lin near midcourt.

Nowitzki finished with a game-high 34 points on 11-of-20 shooting, but he was just 2-of-6 from the floor in the fourth quarter.

The Knicks trailed 18-13 early and then piled on a 17-0 run and led 32-20 after the first quarter. The Mavs built a 12-point lead, 70-58, with a dominant opening to the third quarter, one in which Nowitzki scored 13 points. But, once he sat down late in the period, the Knicks took off and closed to within 75-72 at the end of it.

What it means: The Mavs ended two streaks: Their season-high win streak is over at six as Dallas drops to 20-12, and the streak of holding opponents to fewer than 100 points also ends at 10. After losing Friday night to the New Orleans Hornets to snap a seven-game win streak, the Knicks have won eight of nine with Lin in the lineup.

Play of the game: With 8:35 left in the game, Novak buried his third of four consecutive 3-pointers, this one from the corner in front of Terry. Novak pumped his fist down the floor as the Knicks reclaimed the lead 81-80.

Stat of the day: With all the talk about Lin and his turnovers -- and he did have seven -- it was Kidd who finished with more turnovers (five) than assists (four). However, Kidd's three steals moved him into a tie for second place all-time in the NBA with Michael Jordan.

NEW YORK -- The Mavericks looked like they had put together a near-identical shutdown third quarter from Friday's win at Philadelphia. Dallas raced to a 25-10 run for a 70-58 lead behind 13 points from Dirk Nowitzki, who heads into the fourth quarter leading all scorers with 27 points.

The Knicks started throwing the ball around the gym as the Mavs' shifting defense buckled down inside and the Knicks went cold from outside.

Vince Carter knocked down two big 3-pointers in the quarter and has nine points.

But the momentum switched after a couple of Lin drives and then a dunk on Mavs turnover in the backcourt. Is Lin for real?

He's got 22 points and eight assists (and yes four turnovers) after three.

At any rate, we've got a game.

NEW YORK -- The Dallas Mavericks quickly erased a 12-point deficit with a 14-2 run and the rest of the second quarter went back and forth, but the Knicks never relinquished the lead.

Jeremy Lin is doing a nice job with a team-high 12 points and six assists. The Mavs have not been able to induce him into turnovers. He has just one and that came on a last-second drive to the hole on a pass that Tyson Chandler expected Lin to shoot.

New York cooled off quite a bit in the second quarter and shot 43.5 percent in the first half with Dallas stepping up to 45.9.

Dirk Nowitzki leads all scorers with 14 points. Shawn Marion has 10. Landry Fields has 11 for New York and Amare Stoudemire has eight.

The Mavs have to feel pretty good about their position considering the slow start. They'll put their chips on the defense tightening and late-game execution.

Stay tuned.

NEW YORK -- It was a Linsane opening quarter to be sure.

The Dallas Mavericks got off to an 18-13 lead and then the New York Knicks started raining 3-pointers. J.R. Smith made his debut, somewhat surprisingly, and nailed three 3-pointers and Jeremy Lin put up 10 points, including a corner 3, and three assists. The Knicks shot 54.2 percent in the quarter, well above the 39 percent the Mavs are holding teams to during the six-game win streak.

But there's a long way to go in this one and the Mavs did erase a 14-point deficit in Philadelphia.

Shawn Marion leads Dallas with six points and Dirk Nowitzki has five on 1-of-3 shooting.

NEW YORK -- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said the club still loves Jeremy Lin, but that it had little interest in signing the second-year point guard after the Houston Rockets waived him in December.

The Mavs were the first team to really identify Lin as a bona fide prospect out of Harvard and they were the only team to give him an opportunity on a summer-league squad in 2010. But, the Mavs would have had to release a player in order to sign Lin a few months ago and Cuban said he was comfortable with Jason Kidd, Delonte West, Rodrigue Beaubois and Dominique Jones at the point guard position.

Of course, Lin has taken New York by storm over the past two weeks and has become a global fascination. What does Mavs guard Jason Terry think of all that?

"I think it's a lot of hype right now," said Terry, who joined the Mavs in NewYork on Saturday and will play today. "Is he going to be a good player in the future? If he continues to work he will, but again, given the opportunity he's taken advantage of it, but everybody's making a lot out of the seven games he's played. I've been in the league 13 years, so seven games doesn't necessarily make a career, but he does have great buzz. We'll see when he faces the champs tonight."

Lin has been spectacular, but he also has 45 turnovers in his seven starts, including nine in Friday's loss to New Orleans that snapped the Knicks' win streak at seven. Terry said he knows where nine turnovers would have landed him.

"I've been a point guard in this league," Terry said, "and it got me on the bench real fast."