Wednesday night, the Mavericks' leading scorer (Dirk Nowitzki) went scoreless in the first half against the Chicago Bulls. And their second-leading scorer (Michael Finley) watched for the second consecutive game in street clothes while nursing a strained left hamstring.

It didn't matter. The Mavericks picked up the pace in the second half and won for the 10th consecutive game, 107-97 before a crowd of 17,824 at the United Center. The winning streak by the Mavericks (22-9) is one shy of the franchise record of 11 in a row from Feb. 14-March 4, 1988.

The Mavericks can tie the record when they play the New York Knicks (13-17) at 6:30 tonight at Madison Square Garden.