The Dallas Mavericks have gotten so accustomed to playing without Michael Finley that they were almost able to blow out the Utah Jazz with their injured team leader watching in street clothes.

Almost.

The Mavs" 17-point lead with 5:35 left dwindled to one in the last minute before Dirk Nowitzki preserved a 106-103 victory by making four free throws over the final 6.9 seconds Saturday night.

Dallas has won six of the last seven and 16 of 19 since losing in Utah on Dec. 10. The Mavs are 8-1 without Finley, a two-time All-Star, but the Jazz were the best team they"ve faced without him. His injured hamstring is likely to keep him out another week.

"Even without Fin, we"re doing the things we need to do to win games," Nowitzki said. "When we start playing the high Western Conference teams we"ll need our No. 1 scorer back."

Nowitzki, who has become the unquestioned go-to guy, scored 34 points after having 40 and 32 in his previous two games.