Dallas ? Coach Don Nelson’s emphasis on smaller lineups is working out nicely for the Dallas Mavericks.

Michael Finley scored 29 points, Steve Nash had a career-high 19 assists, and the Mavericks won their third straight game since going back to a smallball lineup, 127-117, Thursday night over the Western Conference-leading — and suddenly struggling — Sacramento Kings.

“This has been good for us. We needed to get our confidence back,” Antawn Jamison said.

The Mavericks matched a season-high for points with their fourth straight game of at least 118, a mark they had reached just once in 26 games before that.

“We get more open looks, more opportunities in the open court, and it’s working for us,” Finley said.

Sacramento lost for the fourth time in five games. The Kings were coming off a 107-89 loss at San Antonio a night earlier.

“We’ve won 52 games. We’ve got to find out how we did that,” Kings coach Rick Adelman said. “We have to find ourselves again.”

Finley made seven straight field goals in one stretch. The first four came in a 10-0 run at the end of the first half that pushed the Mavericks ahead 67-50.

Coming off a season-low two points in 10 minutes Tuesday against Cleveland after missing three games because of a strained right calf, Finley hit 13 of 22 shots in his team-high 42 minutes.

“It was good to get back into the trenches with the guys,” Finley said. “I’m glad to be back.”

His 13-foot fadeaway jumper with 2:44 left started the first half-ending spurt. His follow-up slam dunk of Jamison’s missed layup came with 2.3 seconds left.

Lakers 93, Rockets 85

Los Angeles — The Los Angeles Lakers moved into a tie for the Western Conference lead with slumping Sacramento — a feat that seemed out of the question just a couple weeks ago.

Kobe Bryant scored 26 points, and Karl Malone had 20 points, 14 rebounds and six assists to lead the Lakers past Houston for their 10th straight victory to equal a season high.

Shaquille O’Neal had 18 points and eight rebounds, and Gary Payton added 12 points and a season-high 13 rebounds for the Lakers, who shot just 37.7 percent but outrebounded the Rockets 58-35. Bryant also had seven rebounds, four assists and five steals.

Blazers 88, 76ers 82

Philadelphia — Zach Randolph scored 18 points, and Darius Miles had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Portland over Philadelphia. The surging Blazers (39-36) have won nine of their last 12 games and moved into a tie with the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.