Miami ? Instead of making a serious run at acquiring Shaquille O’Neal over the summer, the Dallas Mavericks built their team around Dirk Nowitzki.

The logic couldn’t be faulted Thursday, when Nowitzki helped hand what was the NBA’s last unbeaten team its first loss of the season.

Nowitzki had 41 points, two off his career high, and Marquis Daniels added 22 in Dallas’ 113-93 win over Miami that ended the Heat’s franchise-record 14-game home win streak.

“We had a great night,” Nowitzki said. “Everybody was shooting well, and it didn’t matter from where they shot it. We did a lot of things right. We shot the ball well, we drove to the basket and got to the foul line.”

Nowitzki shot 12-of-24 from the floor, 4-for-7 from three-point range, 13-for-13 from the line and added 10 rebounds for Dallas (5-1).

“I’m wondering how he missed those 12 shots. … He was really on,” said Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who watched from behind the Dallas bench.

O’Neal had 22 points — giving him 22,002 for his career — and 10 rebounds for the Heat (4-1). O’Neal became the 20th player to score 22,000 regular-season points.

Dwyane Wade added 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists before spraining his left ankle with 7:07 left. X-rays were negative, and Wade said he believed the injury was minor.

“We had a lot of defensive lapses and they shot the ball well,” O’Neal said. “Most of the shots in the first half were wide-open jumpers. … We got into a hole, and I felt we had a couple opportunities to get out of the hole but they shot the ball well. Dirk had a hell of a game. He’s a great player.”

Miami, which won its first four games by an average of 12.8 points, never led. The Heat allowed 71 points in the first half, were hit with four technicals by halftime and let Dallas shoot 52 percent for the game.

Miami's Shaquille O'Neal, right, scores over Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki. The Heat lost to the Mavericks, 113-93, Thursday night in Miami, but O'Neal scored 22 points and became the 20th player in NBA history to score 22,000 career points.

“Our players were talking about everything except defense,” Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said. “That was the problem in my mind. That’s where the lack of composure was, focusing in and saying ‘this is the problem right here, 71 points.’ That never really got through to us.”

Dallas led by 14 at halftime, then opened the third quarter with an 18-4 burst to push its lead to 89-63 against a team that trailed by 4 minutes, 44 seconds in its first four games. Miami got within 95-82 after three, but never got closer.

Dallas shot only 29.2 percent two nights earlier in Orlando, but the Mavericks came out firing against Miami — which held its first four opponents to 41 percent shooting. Dallas made 11 of its first 15 shots, while Miami missed 10 of its first 13.

“It’s fun when you have success going in with a game plan,” said Mavs guard Jerry Stackhouse, who scored 12. “When you execute the game plan, you achieve great results.”

A 13-0 Mavericks’ run — highlighted by a 28-foot, shot-clock-beating three-pointer by Nowitzki — gave Dallas a 25-8 lead with 4:18 left in the opening quarter.

Miami chipped away, and drew within 50-42 on Damon Jones’ three-pointer with 5:52 left in the half. But Dallas scored on its next three possessions and never let the Heat get within 10 points again.

Nelson — the inventor of the “hack-a-Shaq” scheme — ordered it used on three trips in the second quarter, hoping it would disrupt Miami’s offense.

It worked. O’Neal, a challenged foul shooter, made three of the six free throws earned by being fouled near midcourt by Alan Henderson and Calvin Booth, Miami’s momentum slowed down the stretch and the Heat trailed 71-57 at halftime.

“It’s not annoying because in the long run over my career he has never beat me,” O’Neal said. “And he will never beat me.”

Keyon Dooling had 14 points and Rasual Butler added 11 for Miami, which is at San Antonio on Friday — and has won there only once in 17 tries.

“It’s the first time we’ve experienced some adversity,” Butler said. “As long as we learn from this, we’ll be fine.”

T’wolves 96, Rockets 91

Houston — Kevin Garnett hit a jumper with 8.3 seconds left and finished one assist shy of a triple double, leading Minnesota over Houston. Garnett had 20 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists, and Eddie Griffin made a key three-pointer down the stretch against the team with which he began his troubled career, sending the Timberwolves past a Rockets team missing leading scorer Tracy McGrady.

McGrady missed his first game of the season because of nagging hip and groin strains. He had said during Wednesday’s practice that he might try to play, but instead he took a few shots during pregame warmups and later came back to the bench in a dark brown suit.

The Rockets really could have used him.

Yao Ming scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half and Maurice Taylor added 19, but Houston’s perimeter players weren’t able to replace McGrady’s scoring punch.

Filling in for McGrady, third-year swingman Bostjan Nachbar scored 11 points in the first half but was shut out after that. Rockets guard Jim Jackson also started fast, scoring nine in the first two quarters but only four after the break.

Meanwhile, Garnett took over in the second half.

Nuggets 117, Pistons 109

Denver — Carmelo Anthony had 34 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals to break out of his early season slump and help Denver end a three-game losing streak with a victory over Detroit.

Stagnant and stingy to open the season with four double-digit losses in five games, the Nuggets played by far their best game despite losing center Marcus Camby to a hamstring strain late in the second quarter.

Earl Boykins had a career-high 32 points to become the smallest player in league history to eclipse 30 points and Denver shot 50 percent to end a seven-game losing streak against the defending champions.

The Nuggets still almost found a way to lose it.

After leading by 15 at the end of the third quarter, Denver started getting sloppy to let the Pistons back in it.