Dallas’ streak hits 11 without Nowitzki

The Dallas Mavericks won their 11th straight game Wednesday night, but they received a major scare in the process.

Leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki left late in the first quarter because of blurred vision, but Josh Howard scored 26 points to make up for the loss as the Mavericks beat the Toronto Raptors, 117-98, at Dallas.

Nowitzki, who said he expects to play Friday against Sacramento, left with 1:46 remaining in the first quarter with blurred vision but was cleared to resume all basketball activities by a team specialist.

Even without Nowitzki, the Mavericks had few problems after surging to a 26-6 lead.

“We have a lot of guys who can step in,” Nowitzki said. “This team is deeper than last year’s. When somebody is out, somebody else moves in.”

The Mavericks have won 22 straight regular-season home games against Eastern Conference opponents and after losing their first four games have gone on their third-longest winning streak.

Chris Bosh and T.J. Ford had 18 points apiece for Toronto.

Utah 83, San Antonio 75 -- The Jazz ended a two-game losing streak by using an 11-3 fourth-quarter run at Salt Lake City to hand the Spurs their third loss in four games.

Carlos Boozer had 23 points and 16 rebounds for Utah, which had a 50-34 rebounding edge. Tim Duncan had 21 points for the Spurs.

New York 101, Cleveland 98 -- Quentin Richardson and Eddy Curry combined for 23 of the Knicks’ 28 points in the fourth quarter in helping end the Cavaliers’ six-game home winning streak.

Richardson finished with 27 points and Curry had 24 as New York improved to 5-5 on the road. The Knicks are 1-6 at home.

LeBron James had 27 points for Cleveland.

Phoenix 102, Houston 91 -- The Suns won their fifth in a row as Steve Nash scored eight of his 17 points in a 14-3 fourth-quarter run to help his team prevail at Phoenix despite blowing a 22-point lead.

Amare Stoudemire had 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Suns. Tracy McGrady scored 23 for the Rockets but made only nine of 26 shots.

New Jersey 106, Boston 103 -- The Nets ended a six-game losing streak as Vince Carter scored 16 of his 23 points in a fourth quarter in which the Nets overcame a 10-point deficit at Boston.

Paul Pierce had 31 points for Boston.

Orlando 94, Seattle 84 -- Dwight Howard had 24 points and 12 rebounds to help the Magic win its fifth in a row and improve to 12-4, one game behind Utah for the best record in the league. Ray Allen had 21 points for Seattle, which fell to 2-6 at home.

Indiana 108, Golden State 106 -- Stephen Jackson grabbed a loose ball and made a three-pointer with one second left to lift the Pacers at Oakland. Al Harrington scored 28 points for Indiana.

Atlanta 99, Charlotte 90 -- Joe Johnson scored a season-high 36 points as the visiting Bobcats went 0 for 13 from the field before a basket by Sean May with 4:07 left in the first quarter. Raymond Felton and May had 21 points apiece for Charlotte.