Dallas (31-21) lost four in a row from Jan. 9-14 but has since won nine of 13. While trying to improve to 3-0 on their current four-game homestand Thursday night, the Mavericks fell 99-92 to Eastern Conference-leading Boston in their final contest before the break.

Despite leading by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, Dallas struggled down the stretch and lost the lead with 5:37 remaining.

Eight-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki - the Mavericks' lone representative at Sunday's game - had a game-high 37 points, but it wasn't enough as Boston's Paul Pierce scored 18 of his 31 in the fourth quarter.

"You could say we lost focus, you could say they got hot, which Paul (Pierce) did," said Josh Howard, who was limited to 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting before fouling out.

A home matchup with the Nets (24-30) has usually been enough to get the Mavericks back into the win column. After winning 11 straight against New Jersey, the teams have split the last six overall meetings with Dallas losing 121-97 at New Jersey on Dec. 19.

The series at American Airlines Center has been much more one-sided with the Mavericks winning eight in a row there against the Nets by an average of 15.6 points. Dallas has won 10 of its last 12 home games and is 17-8 there this season.

Nowitzki is averaging 29.5 points in his last six at home and 25.6 during the winning streak there versus the Nets, losers of 10 of their last 13 road contests overall.

With second-leading scorer Jason Terry (19.9) expected to miss a few more weeks with a broken left hand, the Mavericks will continue to rely on Nowitzki as they seek a ninth straight playoff appearance.

New Jersey, which hopes to return to the postseason after falling short last year, is ninth in the East, trailing eighth-place Milwaukee by two games. The Nets didn't help their playoff chances Tuesday night, opening the second half of their schedule with a 114-88 loss at Houston.

Vince Carter had 30 points and Brook Lopez added 21 for New Jersey, which trailed by at least 14 throughout the second half. The Nets have been outscored by 19.3 points during a three-game skid following a season-high four-game winning streak from Jan. 31-Feb. 7.

"We have to do better if we want to win. We have to focus for 48 minutes and they took the life out of us," said Carter, second on the team with 21.0 points per game.

All-Star Devin Harris, averaging a team-best 21.8 points, was held to 10 Tuesday after putting up 25.8 in his previous four games.

This will be Harris' third game against his former team and second at Dallas. He was held to nine points on 3-of-12 shooting in New Jersey's 111-91 loss at American Airlines Center on March 8, but scored 41 - the second-highest total of his career - against the Mavericks in December.

"Obviously there's going to be added emotions whether you want it there or not, obviously with old teams and a big trade, but it was more important for us to get a home win," said Harris, acquired from the Mavericks on Feb. 19, 2008.