Pro Basketball News

Mavs win, extend 8th-place lead on Suns (AP) (sports.yahoo.com)

Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 of his 34 points in the second half and the Dallas Mavericks beat Phoenix 122-117 on Tuesday night to widen their lead over the Suns for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Suns lost their season-worst fifth in a row to fall five games behind the Mavericks, with 18 to play, for the eighth playoff berth in the West.