Antoine Walker had 17 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to lead to the Dallas Mavericks to a 97-86 victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night.

Houston Rockets Yao Ming (11), from China, drives to the basket against Dallas Mavericks forward Danny Fortson (21) in the first period of their game in Dallas, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2003. [Reuters]

Walker scored seven of his points in a game-turning 22-8 run in the third quarter that put Dallas ahead to stay as the Mavericks snapped the Rockets' four-game winning streak.

A free throw by Walker with 7:54 left started the run and put Dallas ahead 58-55. By the time he hit a long jumper 4 1/2 minutes later, the Mavericks led 73-63.

Dallas has won five in a row against its instate rival, picking up where it left off after sweeping the season series for the first time in 2002-03.

Dirk Nowitzki had 23 points, Steve Nash had 16 and Michael Finley 14. Antawn Jamison had 13 points and eight rebounds.

Nash scored six points in the third-quarter spurt, ending it with two free throws at the 1:53 mark for a 79-63 lead.

Jim Jackson led Houston with 23 points, Steve Francis added 15, and Kelvin Cato and Yao Ming had 12 each.

Houston had erased a 50-44 halftime deficit with a quick 7-1 spurt out of the break.

Francis was driving into the lane when he saw Jackson wide open on the left wing for a 3-pointer. After Walker's miss, Jackson grabbed an offense rebound and slipped around Nowitzki to tie the game at 51 less than two minutes into the half.

But the Rockets never went ahead and the only other tie came after the teams traded baskets. Yao's follow-up layup made it 53-all before the Mavericks took the lead for good when Walker passed to Finley for a 13-foot jumper.

Notes:@ Dallas was 2-of-19 from 3-point range. ... Mavericks G Tony Delk missed his second straight game with a strained left hamstring. ... Dallas has won nine of the last 11 games in the series, but Houston still has a 69-48 overall lead. ... The crowd of 19,663 gave the Mavericks their 75th straight sellout.

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