Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki (right) drives to the basket for two of his 36 points against the New York Knicks on Monday night. Dallas won 99-89. - Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters):

DIRK NOWITZKI scored a season-high 36 points to steer the Dallas Mavericks to a 99-89 win over the New York Knicks on Monday night. Nowitzki hit 14 of 23 field-goal attempts, including three of five three-pointers, and was five of seven from the line as the Mavericks continued their domination of the Knicks.

He had 15 points in the first quarter to propel the Mavericks to a 28-19 lead.

"I was fortunate enough to find my rhythm very quickly," Nowitzki said. "In the last couple of weeks, my jumper didn't really feel great. I didn't have a lot of really good looks." Josh Howard added 22 and Jerry Stackhouse had 13.

'Pathetic' play

But Dallas coach Avery Johnson was not happy with how some of the other Mavericks played as Dallas blew a large portion of a 23-point third-quarter lead.

"The last three minutes in the third quarter were absolutely pathetic," Johnson said. "We had some guys in there that let the team down, and we had to go back with Dirk, but give the Knicks some credit."

Zach Randolph scored all 24 of his points in the second half to pace New York. He also had 11 rebounds.

Jamal Crawford added 19 and Fred Jones 16 for the Knicks, who lost their third successive game.

The Knicks played without point guard Stephon Marbury. He continues to mourn the recent death of his father.

Other results

Meanwhile, Dwyane Wade scored 31 points when the Miami Heat upended the Phoenix Suns 117-113 on the road. Udonis Haslem added 21 points and 12 rebounds and Shaquille O'Neal had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat. Grant Hill, Raja Bell, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire each scored 19 for Phoenix.

The Atlanta Hawks surprised the Orlando Magic 98-87 in Orlando. Josh Smith had 25 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots and Joe Johnson added 24 points for the Hawks. Hedo Turkoglu scored 22 for Orlando, who made only 39.7 per cent of its shots from the floor.