Published Tuesday, March 09, 2010 12:02 AM

Mavs beat Wolves for 12th consecutive win

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS -- Shawn Marion had a season-high 29 points and 14 rebounds and the Dallas Mavericks stretched the league's longest active winning streak to 12 straight games with a 125-112 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points and Caron Butler had 23 for Dallas, which has flourished since acquiring Butler and Brendan Haywood from the Washington Wizards at the trade deadline.

The Mavericks (44-21) haven't lost since Feb. 16 at Oklahoma City and have climbed into second place in the Western Conference, not far behind the Los Angeles Lakers (46-18).

Al Jefferson had 36 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota in his return from a two-game suspension because of a DWI arrest.

Ryan Hollins added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Timberwolves, who committed 26 turnovers and lost their sixth straight and 12th in the last 13 games.

Things got testy in the fourth quarter when Hollins was ejected after hitting Nowitzki in the head with a forearm shot.

Nowitzki was not hurt on the play, but it was the second confrontation of the game for Hollins, who tangled with DeShawn Stevenson in the first quarter.

The Wolves trailed by eight with under five minutes to play in the fourth, but Sasha Pavlovic missed two free throws and Nowitzki hit four straight free throws after Hollins' ejection to put the game away.

The Wolves' big man started strong in his first game back from the suspension, hitting his first five shots and scoring 11 points in the first six minutes of the game to help the Timberwolves take a 19-9 lead.

Nowitzki went to the bench with his second foul just over 90 seconds into the game, and the Wolves looked to be in good shape when Marion picked up his second foul later in the first quarter. But when Jefferson went to the bench for a breather, the Mavs ripped off a 15-0 run to take a 32-23 lead and were barely threatened the rest of the way.

With Nowitzki on the bench, veteran Eduardo Najera filled in admirably, hitting a couple of jumpers and flustering youngster Kevin Love with the trademark toughness and grit that has kept him in the league for a decade.

Haywood did not play for the second straight game because of a tight lower back.

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