Williams' 25 points lead Nets to 104-94 win over Mavericks

DALLAS -- Deron Williams scored 25 points, Thaddeus Young had 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench and the Brooklyn Nets topped the Dallas Mavericks 104-94 on Saturday night.

The victory completed a 3-5 road trip for the Nets, who moved into eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points and Devin Harrishad 14 for Dallas, which dropped percentage points behind the Los Angeles Clippers into sixth place in the Western Conference.

The Mavericks played their second consecutive game without Tyson Chandler (bruised left hip) and fourth straight without Chandler Parsons (sprained left ankle). That resulted in a three-guard starting lineup with J.J. Barea joining Monta Ellis and Rajon Rondo with Nowitzki making a rare start at center.

Dallas, which entered ranked fourth in the NBA averaging 105.5 points, was limited to double-digit points for the fourth consecutive game for the first time this season.

The 25 points for Williams, who played his high school ball at The Colony High near Dallas, was his second-highest total this season. He shot 9 for 14 overall and shot 4-of-6 on 3-pointers after coming in hitting only one of his last 22 attempts behind the arc.

Mason Plumlee added 14 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high three blocks for Brooklyn.

The Nets trailed 51-47 at halftime despite shooting 54.3 percent, having allowed 17 points off 11 turnovers.

Brooklyn scored the first seven points of the third period to take the lead for good. Williams' 3-pointer with 5:06 remaining in the period gave the Nets a 71-59 lead. Their largest lead of the game was 13 points.

Rondo returned to Dallas' lineup after serving a one-game suspension following an on-court altercation with Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle last Tuesday. He had eight points, seven rebounds and six assists.

TIP-INS

Nets: Brooklyn improved to 4-10 on the second half of back-to-backs, and snapped a six-game skid in those situations. ... Bojan Bogdanovic returned to the lineup after sitting out one game with sprained left ankle, playing 11 minutes.

Mavericks: Amare Stoudemire saw his most minutes in three outings for Dallas, playing 19:30 and scoring nine points - all in the first half. ... Dallas dropped to 20-7 against the East, a half-game behind Golden State for the best record among West teams.

UP NEXT

Nets: host Golden State on Monday.

Mavericks: host New Orleans on Monday