(SportsNetwork.com) - The Dallas Mavericks will try to salvage a win on a quick jaunt through Florida Saturday night when they meet the Orlando Magic at Amway Center.
Dallas fell to the two-time defending champs, the Miami Heat on Friday night. The Mavericks battled from a double-digit deficit, but fell 110-104 at American Airlines Arena.
"I thought we moved the ball fine, we scored fine, and it was a fun game. It's fun to compete at the highest level against the champs, but we've just got to be a little better," Dirk Nowitzki said.
The Mavs shot 50 percent from the field, 42.9 percent from beyond the arc and 85.7 percent from the foul line. They lost the second quarter, 29-19, and committed 24 turnovers, which led to 24 Miami points.
"I thought we played three really good quarters, and the second quarter was not good," head coach Rick Carlisle explained. "The turnovers were our undoing."
In a rematch of the 2011 NBA Finals, Nowitzki scored 28 points, while Vince Carter added 21 off the bench and Monta Ellis chipped in 20 points. Jose Calderon managed 12 points on 4-for-10 shooting.
The Mavs return home after Saturday's tilt for three straight in Dallas.
Orlando started its three-game homestand on the right foot with Wednesday's 94-91 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Arron Afflalo nailed eight 3-pointers (8-of-11) en route to a career-high 36 points, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out six assists. Nikola Vucevic ended with 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic, who rallied back from a 19-point hole (47-28) to halt a three-game slide.
"He had a courageous effort, I call it, to not let his team lose," Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn said of Afflalo. "On both ends of the floor he was great tonight."
Afflalo tied a team record with five 3-pointers in the third quarter and scored 14 points in the final stanza.
The Magic will close out the homestand next Wednesday versus Miami.
Orlando lost both meetings with Dallas last season and is winless in the past three matchups between the teams. The Mavs are 15-5 in the last 20 encounters between the teams and undefeated in the previous seven trips to Magic Kingdom.
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