Mavs too tough for Kobe, Lakers

DALLAS – The Dallas Mavericks overcame the absence of Caron Butler to beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 101-96, on Wednesday in a clash of NBA divisional leaders, extending their NBA winning run to five games.

Butler, a key part of a seven-player trade with Washington this month, missed the game because of a bad reaction to medication. Without Butler, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry picked up the slack by scoring 22 of the Mavericks’ final 23 points. Nowitzki finished with 31 and Terry with 30.

Los Angeles’ Kobe Bryant scored 20 points and moved into 13th place on the career scoring list. Bryant, who passed Reggie Miller, has 25,298 points.

Bryant missed a 3-pointer that could have tied it with 25 seconds left.

In Houston, Dwight Howard was 11 for 11 from the field and had 30 points and 16 rebounds to help Orlando beat Houston, 110-92.

Howard scored all of his points in the last three quarters, as he sat out almost the entire first period after committing two quick fouls. He had his 19th straight double-double to break a tie with Shaquille O’Neal for the franchise record.

Aaron Brooks led Houston with 24 points.

In San Antonio, Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and made a spectacular block on Kevin Durant’s would-be dunk late in the fourth quarter, leading San Antonio over Oklahoma City, 95-87.

Ginobili’s crucial block in the final minutes helped stop Durant’s streak of scoring 25 points or more at 29 games. Durant had 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Tim Duncan had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Spurs.

In Toronto, Andre Miller had 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds to lead Portland over Toronto, 101-87.

Brandon Roy added 20 points for the TrailBlazers.

Hedo Turkoglu scored 24 points for the Raptors who failed to top 100 points for the first time in 21 games – a streak that had extended back to Jan. 6.

In Salt Lake City, Carlos Boozer scored 20 of his 33 points in the second half to help Utah defeat Charlotte, 102-93.      (AP)