NBA Comeback victory helps Mavericks snap losing streak

Dirk Nowitzki helped Dallas rally from a 16-point deficit to win 111-103.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- While Peja Stojakovic and Chris Webber sat out for Sacramento, the real Dallas Mavericks finally stood up.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 22 of his 31 points in the Mavericks' fantastic second half, and Antoine Walker's fifth 3-pointer was the go-ahead basket in Dallas' 111-103 victory over the Kings on Thursday.
Dallas snapped a four-game losing streak with yet another victory in Sacramento, the NBA's toughest road stop over the last four seasons. Walker had 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for the Mavs, who have won five of six regular-season games at Arco Arena.
Second half rally
And thanks to a prolific second half, they might have turned a corner in their disappointing season. After stumbling to a 16-point deficit at halftime, Dallas outscored the short-handed Kings 67-43.
"If you look at our team, we have an unbelievable squad," said Nowitzki, who also had 14 rebounds and didn't make a turnover in 47 minutes. "We just haven't been clicking. It was fun to watch us finally come through. It's good to see that we can still execute."
But the Kings weren't impressed, even though Dallas handed them just their second home loss of the season. They were without Stojakovic, who was suspended, and Webber, who hasn't played since blowing out his knee early in the teams' second-round playoff series last spring, won in seven games by Dallas.
"I think if we had had Peja, it would have been a different story," said Vlade Divac, who had 21 points. "We would have been guarding them differently. The problem was in the second half. They started to make 3s."
Hot from long range
In the second half, four Dallas players combined for 10 3-pointers. Coach Don Nelson abandoned any set plays until the final moments, allowing his stars to create their own shots -- and for the first time in weeks, they did it splendidly.
"We didn't think. We just went out there and played basketball," said Antawn Jamison, who had 22 points in just his second start of the season. "The coaches gave us the freedom, and we're a talented team that can take advantage of that. It feels so good to finally start playing that way."
No matter the Kings' circumstances, the Mavericks were energized by just the fourth road win of their disappointing season. Starting with Walker's 3-pointer with 1:04 left, Dallas scored the game's final eight points.
Steve Nash added 14 points and 11 assists, and Michael Finley emerged from a rough outing to hit a 3-pointer for the Mavericks with 37 seconds left.
"Obviously, we needed to stop that losing streak, but we also played a good half of basketball, which we haven't seen in a while," Walker said. "Hopefully we can use it as a springboard."
Stojakovic became the NBA's second-leading scorer with 24.9 points per game after his career-best 41 against Memphis on Tuesday night. But the mild-mannered Serbian All-Star also angrily brushed against referee Bernie Fryer, earning the first one-game suspension of his career.
Bibby leads Kings
Mike Bibby scored 23 points for the Kings, who dropped to 15-2 at home this season with just their third loss in their last 19 games overall. Brad Miller had 13 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists before fouling out.
"Our guys played really hard, but the Mavericks were just great shooting the 3 in the second half," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "It was somebody different each time. We had our chances, but they just made so many shots that we didn't have an answer for."