In one of their worst performances of the season Saturday, the host Mavericks was thoroughly outplayed in a 128-94 loss to the lowly New York Knicks, who avenged a 50-point loss earlier in the season.

It was the first loss in nearly a month for the Mavericks, who had been cruising since the acquisition of Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood from Washington but took a bruising from the Knicks, who had lost 14 of their last 17 games.

"We were poor defensively. And, look, we were poor offensively, too," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "It was a poor performance all around. We really didn't come close to winning a quarter."

Bill Walker scored 23 points for the Knicks, who had four players with at least 20 points and avenged a 128-78 loss to the Mavs on Jan. 24.

"When you're rolling along and the Knicks are coming in, you figure you can score 150 points on 'em in your sleep," said Knicks forward Al Harrington, who scored 20 points. "But that Knick team didn't show up today. We caught 'em by surprise."

"Players in this league have a lot of pride," said German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki, one of the few bright spots for Dallas with 20 points and 12 rebounds. "When we beat them by 50, they didn't forget it."

New York had not won in Dallas since Dec. 16, 1999. But the Knicks never trailed, shooting 56 percent (50-of-89) from the field, including 16-of-30 on three-pointers.

Harrington scored 10 points in less than four minutes to push the lead to double digits early in the second quarter. Tracy McGrady scored all 11 of his points in the third period, which ended with the Knicks holding a 91-66 advantage. The fourth quarter was garbage time.

"They came out, hit a lot of shots and got into a rhythm," said Butler, who scored seven points, his lowest total since the trade.

"That was the story all night."

Wilson Chandler scored 22 points, rookie Toney Douglas added 21 and David Lee added 15 and 11 rebounds for the Knicks, who had lost 15 of the last 16 meetings between the clubs.

Jason Kidd scored 15 points for the Mavericks (45-22), who dropped one-half game behind Denver into third place in the Western Conference.

"When you get thoroughly thrashed like that, it's something that's difficult," Carlisle said. "We've got work to do."

Argentina's Luis Scola scored a career-high 44 points on 20-of-25 shooting for the host Rockets, who have won back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 2-5. The last Rocket to make 20 baskets in a game was Hakeem Olajuwon vs. Denver on April 19, 1990.

Courtney Lee scored 24 points for the Nets (7-59), who have lost four in a row and are trying to avoid the worst record in NBA history.

J.R. Smith made seven three-pointers and scored 30 points for the visiting Nuggets (45-21), who have won six consecutive games. O.J.

Mayo scored 25 points for the Grizzlies, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Dwight Howard had 28 points and 15 rebounds for the visiting Magic, who won their eighth straight game and dealt the Wizards their seventh loss in a row. Andray Blatche scored 32 points for Washington.

Rookie Stephen Curry had 35 points and 10 assists for the host Warriors, who made a season-high 16 three-pointers and ended a six-game slide. Spain's Jose Calderon had 24 points and 12 assists for the Raptors, who have lost four in a row.

Atlanta 112, Detroit 99: Josh Smith had 18 points, a career-high 11 assists and five steals as the host Hawks won for the sixth time in eight games. Jason Maxiell scored 19 points for the Pistons, losers of eight of 10.

Matt Bonner scored 21 points to lead six players in double figures as the host Spurs, who beat the Clippers for the 16th consecutive time. Los Angeles is on a seven-game skid.