Dallas ? With Josh Howard hurt and the Dallas Mavericks struggling on both ends of the court, Dirk Nowitzki knew he had to start scoring.

He and Jason Terry turned into quite a duo against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Nowitzki had 31 points and Terry scored 23, and they sparked the two key runs that pushed the Mavericks to a 97-87 victory Thursday as Dallas won its franchise-record 13th straight home game.

“I felt I had to make a couple of more shots if we were going to win,” Nowitzki said. “Josh has been carrying us, and the whole team had to pick it up. I got some good looks and made some shots.”

Howard, the leading scorer in six of the previous 10 games, sprained his right ankle late in the first quarter when his feet got tangled with teammate Keith Van Horn on defense. He returned to play most of the second quarter, but not after having X-rays taken at halftime.

Nowitzki and Terry made sure the Mavericks (43-11) would be OK.

After Dallas trailed by as many as 19 points in the second quarter, Nowitzki and Terry combined for all but one basket in a 21-2 run spanning halftime. The Mavs never trailed again after Terry’s 15-footer early in the third quarter made it 59-58.

“(Memphis) had that look in their eyes like it was going to be their night,” Terry said. “But we started to feed off the crowd, and the momentum started to shift. … I was just playing the game as it came to me. I was just hitting some shots.”

Howard was diagnosed with a mild sprain after X-rays were negative, and was listed day-to-day. The Mavericks play at home Saturday against Toronto.

The Mavericks (43-11), with the best record in the Western Conference, haven’t lost at home since Dec. 30 against Golden State and have won 17 of 18 overall.

Memphis had won four straight since a season-worst five-game losing streak that started the month.

Terry and Nowitzki started the game-turning run by producing the last seven points of the first half – in a span of 34 seconds. The Mavericks, down 50-31 with 4:32 left, cut it to 56-47 by the break.

“They didn’t hear much from me at halftime,” coach Avery Johnson said. “No throwing chairs, VCRs or Gatorade bottles. I didn’t get in anybody’s face.”

Maybe he already felt the momentum changing.

Nowitzki had an assist on Terry’s 15-foot jumper, then Terry had a backcourt steal and made a three-pointer from the left corner. Nowitzki then had a steal and converted that with a running layup after taking a pass back from Terry to the end the half.

DeSagana Diop made the first basket for Dallas after halftime – the only basket not made by Terry or Nowitzki in the spurt that ended with the Mavericks’ only All-Star hitting a short turnaround with seven minutes left.

“They just wanted it more,” Bobby Jackson said. “We did all the right things in the first 12 minutes, and did all the wrong things from then on out.”

Memphis got even at 70-all on Jackson’s three-pointer with 3:19 left in the third quarter. Nowitzki then missed, but Jerry Stackhouse made a 12-foot fadeaway and the Mavericks stayed in front.

Pau Gasol and Jackson had 18 points each for Memphis, which shot 61 percent (23-of-38) before halftime. The Grizzlies were 11-of-40 shooting and scored just 31 points after that.

“We had open shots and we didn’t make the shots that we made in the first half,” coach Mike Fratello said. “They got in transition and we had some turnovers. … They had numbers in transition and got some layups.”

The Grizzlies closed to 83-82 on a 10-foot jumper by Shane Battier with 7:21 left. Terry responded with a breakaway layup that started a game-ending 14-5 spurt that included six straight points by Nowitzki.

Stackhouse added 12 points for Dallas, and Erick Dampier had 10 rebounds. Nowitzki also had six rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots in his first 30-point game in 16 games.

Memphis Grizzlies Pau Gasol (16), of Spain, attempts to get by Dallas Mavericks' DeSagana Diop (7), of Senegal, in the first half of NBA basketball action, in Dallas, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006.

Chucky Atkins made his first five shots, including consecutive three-pointers that ignited an 23-7 run that pushed Memphis to an early double-digit lead.

But Atkins failed to score the rest of the way, missing his last five shots.

Nowitzki made a shot before the end of the first quarter, but it was still the first time in 18 home games that the Mavericks trailed after 12 minutes.

Pistons 88, Pacers 83

Auburn Hills, Mich. – Rasheed Wallace scored 11 of his game-high 28 points in a key fourth-quarter surge to lift the Detroit past Indiana.

With Detroit leading 70-64 early in the fourth, Wallace hit four straight shots – three from three-point range – in 97 seconds to put the game away.

The win was Detroit’s first at home against Indiana since April 4, 2004. Indiana won both meetings at the Palace last year – the first ended early by the infamous brawl and the second delayed by a bomb threat aimed at the Pacers locker room.

There were no such incidents in this one, in which Ben Wallace added 13 points, eight rebounds and five blocks for the Pistons, while Chauncey Billups had 14 points and nine assists.

Stephen Jackson led the Pacers with 15 points and Peja Stojakovic added 14.

Detroit led 46-41 at the half, thanks to 13 points from Rasheed Wallace. The Pistons led by as many as 13 in the third quarter, but the Pacers pulled within 63-59 late in the period.

The Pistons, though, scored the last four points, all from the free-throw line, to lead by eight going into the fourth.

The teams traded baskets to start the final 12 minutes, and Billups added a free throw when David Harrison received a technical foul after arguing a call.

Lakers 106, Kings 85

Los Angeles – Kobe Bryant scored 11 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter and added a season-high 10 assists, and Los Angeles took command early in the final period to beat Sacramento.

Lamar Odom had 19 points, six rebounds and nine assists, and Devean George had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers (28-26), who won for the third time in four games and snapped a three-game losing streak to the Kings.

Mike Bibby scored 25 points, Brad Miller added 16 and Ron Artest had 15 points.