SALT LAKE CITY -- Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points and moved into sole possession of the No. 12 spot on the all-time NBA scoring list in the Dallas Mavericks' 108-101 win over the Utah Jazz Wednesday.
The big German made 12 of 14 from the field and all four his 3-points attempts to help the Mavs snap a three-game road losing skid.
Trey Burke scored 20 points and Enes Kanter had 18 points and 11 rebounds, but the Jazz wilted down the stretch against Dallas' long-range shooting. The Mavericks converted 13 of 21 3-point attempts while the Jazz went 5 of 26.
On the first possession of the game, Nowitzki drained his trademark one-legged fade-away jumper, which moved him past John Havlicek for 12th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
Havlicek scored 26,395 points and Dominique Wilkins is No. 11 in the record books with 26,668. Nowitzki could possibly reach the top 10 this season by passing Oscar Robertson (26,710).
Monta Ellis, on the other hand, started slow but finished strong - scoring 13 of his 16 points in the second half and tallying 11 assists and seven rebounds for Dallas. Devin Harris, who was a game-time decision with a strained Achilles, scored 12 and kept Dallas in the eighth Western Conference playoff slot.
Derrick Favors scored 15 points and Alec Burks had 13 points and a career-high eight assists, but the Jazz have now lost seven of their last eight games in this rebuilding season.
Neither team led by more than seven points until Ellis and Jose Calderon made back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 101-93 with 3:04 to play.
Burke made a 3-pointer for the Jazz, but then Ellis made a jumper and then assisted Nowitzki for another shot beyond the arc to put the game out of reach.
The back-and-forth game featured 17 ties and 18 lead changes but the Mavericks made all the key shots down the stretch.
Notes: Dallas F Jae Crowder sat out his second game with a strained abdominal muscle suffered Sunday against Indiana . Dallas coach Rick Carlisle got a technical for vehemently complaining about Burke kicking out his feet on his jump shots. . The Jazz outscored the Mavericks 56-32 in the paint but couldn't compete with the trading 3-pointers for two-point shots
