DENVER -- Reserve J.J. Barea scored 18 points and had 11 assists to help the short-handed Dallas Mavericks halt a three-game skid with a 97-88 win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.
Dwight Powell had 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter as Dallas moved into a virtual tie with Houston for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
It was a much-needed win for the Mavericks in a month that hasn't been friendly to them. They're 4-10 and have gone from five games over .500 on March 1 to two games below.
The Mavericks had seven players score in double figures, including all of their starters.
Will Barton had 23 points for the Nuggets, who finished with 21 turnovers. The Mavericks turned it over just three times.
Powell, who averages 6.1 points, scored eight straight for Dallas at a critical point in the final quarter. He picked up the slack with Chandler Parsons (right knee) and Deron Williams (abdominal strain) sidelined.
Kenneth Faried returned to the floor after missing the last four games with a sore back. He finished with nine points and 11 rebounds.
Leading 89-81, Barea sealed the victory by hitting a 3-pointer from the corner with 3:18 remaining. But it got a little dicey when the sure-handed Mavericks turned the ball over twice with around three minutes left. Until then, they had only turned the ball over once.
Barton salvaged a sour end to the third quarter by hitting a 33-foot jumper at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 72-66. Before that, the Nuggets had two turnovers over the last 54.3 minutes that fueled an 8-0 Dallas run.
Zaza Pachulia was frustrated by Faried early in the second half. He was called for a technical when he elbowed Faried in the face. A few minutes later, he shoved Faried out of bounds after the player nicknamed the "Manimal" grabbed a rebound.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Dallas wrapped up a four-game trip with a 1/3 mark. ... Dallas was outrebounded 44-34.
Nuggets: G Jameer Nelson (sprained left wrist) entered the game in the second quarter. It was his first appearance since Jan. 30. ... Denver saw its five-game home winning streak snapped. ... F Jusuf Nurkic was out with an illness a day after scoring a career-high 19 points in a loss at the Los Angeles Clippers.
