But it's a different sort of shake down than from some coaches. Rick Carlisle is no screamer.

But he pushed the right buttons in the locker room as the Mavericks came to life after a death-warmed-over first half, scooting clear for a 91-76 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies at American Airlines Center.

The Mavericks' first home victory of the season after four losses was sparked by the halftime scene, which wasn't much of a scene at all.

"Very subtle, very straight to the point," Jason Kidd said of Carlisle's style of delivering a strong message. "He's not shy about it. He's not going to raise his voice. He just wants us to be aggressive and hit first. We all understood what he meant.

"Coach was upset with us about that first half, and guys in that second half responded."

Big time, which is why their winning streak reached four and their record is 6-7, which only sounds good when you remember the 2-7 start.

The Mavericks held the Grizzlies to 30 percent shooting after halftime. Kidd did the bulk of his damage (18 points, 13 rebounds) in the second half as did Dirk Nowitzki, who had 25 points and 10 boards.

"Fortunately, Jason Kidd and Dirk imposed their will on the game in the third quarter, and that was the difference," Carlisle said. "That's what you have star players for, to play like stars. And those guys did it."

In the third quarter, when the Mavericks went up by a dozen, Kidd had eight points and eight rebounds. Nowitzki had 11 points. The Grizzlies shot 6-for-27 (22.2 percent).

One dazzling possession highlighted the Mavericks' breakaway late in the third. After a Grizzlies miss, Erick Dampier got the rebound and flipped the outlet to Kidd. In the same motion, he caught and passed the ball to a streaking James Singleton for a layup that turned into a three-point play when he was fouled. That put the Mavericks up 15, and it stayed in double figures most of the rest of the way.

"It was beautiful Basketball," Carlisle said. "Two touch passes and no dribbles, then a finish. It was a pivotal tipping-point play."

Back in town: Darrell Arthur grew up as a big Mavericks' fan. The former South Oak Cliff standout returned to town as the starting power forward for Memphis.

The rookie also returned to his hometown with several thoughts on his initiation to the NBA.

On his physique: "I put on about 20 pounds [from 216 at pre-draft camp to 237 now]. I'm going against bigger, stronger guys, so I had to put on some weight, but try to stay quick."

On maturing in the NBA: "You got to grow up real quick. When my stock dropped in the draft, I was kind of upset. But I'm just happy to be in the NBA right now, and I'm in the best situation, starting as a rookie and getting big-time minutes."

On the SOC grade scandal: "It's bogus because I don't see how you can bring it up seven years later."

Cuban-Nellie struggle continues: The Don Nelson-Mark Cuban legal wrangling continues. Cuban, who an arbitrator ruled owes Nelson $6.3 million in back pay, plus court fees, still hasn't paid. A Dallas judge ruled this week that Cuban must pay, but the owner said at Friday night's game that he plans to continue the appeals process.

Briefly: Gerald Green felt a spasm in his lower back after shootaround and hobbled up the stairs from the practice court to the locker room. After getting some treatment, he was in the starting lineup. ... Josh Howard (ankle) missed his second consecutive game.

Mavericks 91, Grizzlies 76

Grizzlies M FG

M-A 3-pt

M-A FT

M-A Tot.

Pts. Reb.

O-T Ast. F Stl TO Blk Sea.

Avg. High

Game

Gay 35:01 5-19 0-2 4-5 14 1-8 5 4 2 3 1 20.0 29

Arthur 15:08 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 1-7 0 3 0 0 0 6.0 13

Gasol 29:09 4-8 0-0 4-4 12 1-8 1 2 1 2 1 12.3 27

Mayo 41:10 8-23 2-6 1-1 19 2-7 1 1 3 2 0 20.0 33

Conley 31:34 6-12 0-0 2-4 14 0-2 0 1 0 3 0 6.5 10

Warrick 26:13 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 3-6 0 2 0 1 0 10.2 21

Ross 22:54 2-3 0-1 0-0 4 0-1 1 3 1 0 1 5.3 11

Milicic 21:14 2-3 0-0 1-2 5 1-2 1 3 1 1 0 4.4 7

Lowry 15:15 2-5 0-1 0-0 4 1-2 2 2 0 2 0 6.8 14

Crittenton 1:11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 4

Jaric 1:11 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1.8 6

Totals 240:00 31-83 2-10 12-16 76 10-43 11 21 8 14 3 92.8 109

Mavericks M FG

M-A 3-pt

M-A FT

M-A Tot.

Pts. Reb.

O-T Ast. F Stl TO Blk Sea.

Avg. High

Game

Singleton 29:54 1-7 0-1 3-3 5 2-2 1 3 0 0 1 3.8 12

Nowitzki 35:30 10-20 0-0 5-6 25 1-10 3 1 0 1 1 24.7 39

Dampier 23:15 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-8 2 4 0 2 0 5.2 16

Green 5:48 0-4 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0 2 0 1 0 6.6 17

Kidd 34:27 7-12 4-6 0-0 18 3-13 6 3 2 5 1 10.2 22

Terry 35:00 6-15 3-6 5-5 20 1-6 5 2 3 4 1 18.4 31

Diop 16:11 1-3 0-0 2-2 4 0-3 0 1 0 0 0 2.6 4

Barea 18:57 3-5 1-2 2-2 9 1-1 2 1 1 2 0 3.3 9

Williams 9:53 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 1-3 0 1 0 0 1 2.8 5

George 15:02 0-2 0-2 2-2 2 0-1 0 1 1 2 0 2.0 2

Bass 16:05 2-4 0-0 3-4 7 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 6.5 12

Totals 240:02 30-75 8-18 23-26 91 10-51 19 19 7 17 5 98.0 124

1 2 3 4 OT F 2FG% 3FG% TFG% FT%

MEMPHIS 22 19 15 20 - 76 .397 .200 .373 .750

DALLAS 22 22 24 23 - 91 .386 .444 .400 .885

Halftime: Mavericks 44-41. Third quarter: Mavericks 68-56. Grizzlies' largest lead: 6. Mavericks' largest lead: 16. Lead changes: 24. Ties: 14. Team turnovers: Grizzlies 14 (7 PTS). Mavericks 18 (15 PTS). Attendance: 20,035 (20,468). Time: 2:14. Technical fouls: Grizzlies Defensive three second, 7:43 first. Officials: Bill Spooner, Bill Kennedy, Phil Robinson.

Mavericks SCHEDULE

NOVEMBER

Day Date Opponent TV Time

Tue. 25 Indiana Ch. 21 7:30

Fri. 28 at LA Lakers ESPN 9:30

Sat. 29 at Sacramento Ch. 21 9:00

DECEMBER

Day Date Opponent TV Time

Tue. 2 LA Clippers FSSW 7:30

Thu. 4 Phoenix TNT 7:00

Sat. 6 Atlanta FSSW 7:30

Tue. 9 San Antonio Ch. 21 7:30

Thu. 11 Charlotte FSSW 7:30

Sat. 13 Oklahoma City Ch. 21 7:30

Mon. 15 Denver FSSW 7:30

Wed. 17 at Toronto FSSW 6:00

Fri. 19 at New Jersey Ch. 21 6:30

Sun. 21 at Washington FSSW 5:00

Tue. 23 Memphis FSSW 7:30

Thu. 25 at Portland TNT 9:30

Fri. 26 at Utah Ch. 21 8:00

Sun. 28 at LA Clippers FSSW 2:30

Tue. 30 Minnesota FSSW 7:30

JANUARY

Day Date Opponent TV Time

Fri. 2 Philadelphia FSSW 7:30

Sun. 4 at Memphis FSSW 3:00

Tue. 6 LA Clippers FSSW 7:30

Thu. 8 New York FSSW 7:30