Nowitzki Returns, Mavs Wins

Dirk Nowitzki, coming back from his injury, led the Dallas Mavericks win a 111-86 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.

The German scored 18 points, five rebounds and one block shoot in his unexpected start Wednesday night at a home game in Dallas, Texas.

Dallas (47-28), seventh in the Western Conference, moved a full game ahead of idle Denver and two games ahead of Golden State (45-30). However, the Warriors had consecutive losses.

Reigning MVP Nowitzki suffered a high ankle sprain during an 88-81 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on March 23 at American Airlines Center. Since then he had missed four consecutive games. On Wednesday, he succeeded six out of 15 shots and five out of six free throws.

Jason Terry scored his season best, 31 points, including three 3-pointers, and Josh Howard had 28 points, helping Dallas win.

Although Jason Kidd scored only 5 points, he posted a double-double with 17 assists and 11 rebounds

The Atlanta Hawks (35-41) beat the Toronto Raptors 127-120 in overtime. The Hawks increased their lead for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot to four games over Indiana (31-44) and the New Jersey Nets.

Atlanta’s Josh Smith contributed greatly to the victory of his team by scoring 24 points including back-to-back 3-pointers.

The Boston Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers 92-77 for their 60th win of the season on Wednesday. Boston has won five consecutive games. All-Star forward Kevin Garnett had 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Ray Allen had 15 points, and Paul Pierce scored 13 points.