Ellis scores 26 as Mavericks hold off Jazz

Published Nov. 22, 2013 9:23 p.m. ET

foxsports

DALLAS (AP) -- Monta Ellis scored 26 points to pace five Mavericks in double figures as Dallas built a 28-point first-half lead and withstood Utah's second-half rally for a 103-93 win Friday night.

Dallas (9-4) has opened its home schedule 7-0 for the first time since 2003-04.

Utah (1-13) is winless in its first eight road games. The Jazz have lost five straight since notching their only victory on Nov. 13 at home against New Orleans.

Ellis added six assists, and Dirk Nowitzki and Samuel Dalembert scored 18 apiece, a season high for Dalembert, who also grabbed 12 rebounds.

Reserve forward Marvin Williams scored 19 points, 16 in the second half, to lead the Jazz. Williams returned to the lineup after missing one game for surgery on a broken nose.

After Derrick Favors gave Utah a 2-0 with a finger roll, Dallas scored the next nine points. The outcome appeared secured in the second quarter when the Mavericks took a 54-26 lead with 2:11 to play in the half.

But Utah followed a 38.9 percent effort in the first half by shooting 59.5 percent after intermission. A dunk by Favors with 4:42 remaining in the fourth quarter shaved Dallas' lead to 90-85. But the Mavericks responded with a 3-pointer by Jose Calderon and a putback by Dalembert to stave off Utah's rally.

Dallas outrebounded Utah 41-31 and outscored the Jazz 20-8 on second-chance points.

NOTES: When Ellis scored 37 points and Nowitzki 35 on Wednesday, it marked the first time since April 1995 that two Mavericks topped 35 points in a game. . With the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy commemorated in Dallas on Friday, Jazz players toured the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza on Thursday.