"It's been enormous for us," Carlisle said. "It started in Houston (Nov. 25) that night we had to bounce back from the tough home loss. He was able to play that night and gave us a big lift and has been in there ever since.

"He's not completely healthy. He still has pain and he's working through it, but he's trying to help us win. He wants to win and that's why he wants to be here."

Marion's workload should be reduced with the return of Howard, who was back in lineup Tuesday night against Phoenix. The two swingmen bring a different dimension to the Dallas attack.

"We are a running team and we got to have guys that can shoot open shots in transition and also get it to the rim and get to the free throw line," Carlisle said.

MAVERICKS 102, SUNS 101: Dirk Nowitzki scored 33 points as Dallas snapped a season-long two-game losing streak by holding off rival Phoenix at home Tuesday night. The Mavericks improved to 15-7, tying the Suns for the third-best record in the Western Conference.

Jason Terry missed two free throws, the second intentionally, with 2.4 seconds left and the Mavs nursing a one-point lead. The Suns were out of timeouts, forcing Amare Stoudemire to launch a desperation heave from three-quarters court at the buzzer.

Josh Howard had 20 points off the bench in his first game back in nearly a month for Dallas. Terry added 15. Steve Nash (27 points) led three Suns with at least 20 points. Phoenix has lost four of its last five.