DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki was beat up after getting hit in the face and the Dallas Mavericks seemed on the verge of getting blown out by the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves on their home court.

Then the Mavericks toughened up their defense and Jason Terry scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half as Dallas rallied from a 29-point deficit to beat the Timberwolves, 107-100, last night.

"The first half was ugly," said Nowitzki, who had a bloody nose after being hit by Craig Smith on a drive to the basket in the third quarter. "They got whatever they wanted because our defense was soft. It took a lot of defensive energy to come back."

The Timberwolves led 70-41 early in the third quarter when the Mavericks started their comeback, the largest in franchise history.

Dallas used a 22-2 run to get to 72-63. The Mavericks then opened the fourth period with a 22-7 run for a 95-91 lead. Minnesota's Al Jefferson had a three-point play to tie the game at 98 with 2:35 left. But Nowitzki, who scored 24 points, tipped in his own miss to give Dallas the lead for good, 100-98, with 2:15 to go.

ELSEWHERE

Heat 104, Cavaliers 95: Dwyane Wade had 21 points and 12 assists as host Miami beat Cleveland and dropped LeBron James' pro record on his birthday to 0-3. James scored 38 points on the day he turned 24.

Trail Blazers 91, Celtics 86: Steve Blake scored 21 points, LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 and host Portland handed Boston its third loss in four games, while moving into a tie atop the Northwest Division with Denver.

Suns 101, Grizzlies 89: Shaquille O'Neal scored 24 points, moving past Oscar Robertson into eighth place on the NBA scoring list with 26,711, to help Phoenix beat Memphis.