SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Don Nelson bellowed a greeting to the 7-foot German soaking his feet in an ice bath.
"Nowitzki is alive and well!" the Dallas coach said. "I haven't seen him for a while!"
Yes, that was the real Dirk Nowitzki scoring 22 of his 31 in the second half of the Mavericks' 111-103 win against the Kings on Thursday. And the real Antoine Walker, Steve Nash and Antawn Jamison, too.
The Mavericks, who ended a four-game losing streak, haven't resembled themselves much this season, but they're hoping 24 outstanding minutes can help them get their identity back.
After trailing by 16 at halftime, Dallas outscored the Kings 67-43. And four players combined for 10 3-pointers to secure the Mavs' fifth victory in Sacramento in their past six regular-season games.
Dallas took its first lead of the second half on Walker's 3-pointer from two steps behind the line with 7:09 left.
"It was fun to watch us finally come through," Nowitzki said.
ROCKETS 99, LAKERS 87: Steve Francis had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for visiting Houston. The loss was the second straight and fourth in six games for Los Angeles since a 10-game win streak.
Karl Malone missed his second game since spraining his right knee. He disappointed his coach by not attending the game.
"We got a call (Thursday) morning saying he wasn't going to come even though I asked him to come (Wednesday)," Phil Jackson said. "It's an unexcused absence we'll talk about (today)."
Consecutive 3-pointers by Cuttino Mobley and Moochie Norris led to a 10-1 run that made it 90-80 with less than four minutes left.
PACERS: Guard Jamaal Tinsley was activated. He missed two months with a sore back and severe flu.
