Mark Cuban will listen to trades, rips Mavericks before win over Warriors

Three consecutive losses had sent the Mavericks into a nasty funk. Maybe worse, as the owner said in all-too-blunt terms before Wednesday's game.

"We suck right now," Mark Cuban said.

About three hours later, the Mavericks were battling Golden State and trying to find some way to calm the owner and the masses.

Fate was able to lend a hand. The schedule-maker served up the 13-35 Warriors, who looked nothing like the six-man team that beat the Mavericks at American Airlines Center in November. This time, Golden State was a one-man team.

The Mavericks finally subdued Monta Ellis and scored a 110-101 victory. It wasn't anything to pop champagne over. But it was a win.

"After three in a row, it doesn't matter how you stop the bleeding, you have to stop it somehow," Dirk Nowitzki said.

And they did so with Nowitzki overcoming a sprained right thumb and some tight defense by former Maverick Devean George to score nine points in the fourth quarter, six coming on three consecutive possessions to get the Mavericks a 101-92 lead.

Josh Howard had perhaps his best game of the season with 19 points, Jason Kidd had 16 assists and Drew Gooden added 16 points. Jason Terry added 21.

And the Mavericks again had trouble with a point guard. Ellis, who has scored 30 or more points in 20 of the last 35 games, had 46 points and that's not even the high for a visiting point guard at AAC in the last week. Portland's Andre Miller had 52.

But it was Ellis' free throws that cut the Mavs' lead to 101-97 before Terry nailed a baseline jumper. After Ellis missed a 3 with Nowitzki in his face, Kidd knocked in a 3-pointer with 1:25 to go to make it 106-97 and snuff out the Warriors, who had won by eight at AAC earlier this season.

This was one of the rare games this season when Howard and Shawn Marion looked in synch. Marion had a terrific start, and Howard took the baton as soon as he entered the game.

"He played great and we need him because he brings an element we don't have otherwise," coach Rick Carlisle said. Trade talk: Things had gotten so bad during the Mavericks' losing streak that Cuban had said his outlook on potential trades had changed.

"Whereas before, we might not have listened, at least now we listen," he said. "Nothing dramatic has changed, except our performance."

Cuban said he worries about the Mavericks' locker room.

"You worry about chemistry all the time, [especially] when things aren't going well," he said. "No team has perfect chemistry the whole year around."

Dirk gets thumbed: Nowitzki got his right thumb sprained against Phoenix last week. He got whacked on it again against the Warriors.

"You knew something significant happened because he doesn't usually come out of the game for anything," Carlisle said.

Said Nowitzki: "It's going to stay sore for a while, but I was able to tape it and play through it."