"Growing weary of his out-of-shape inconsistency while battling conditioning and a troublesome right knee, the Dallas Mavericks ruled forward Dirk Nowitzki out for the team's next four games, beginning Saturday night against the New Orleans Hornets. New Orleans could not take advantage of Nowitzki's absence, though.

Dallas scored the first 12 points of the third quarter after the score was tied at halftime, and despite overcoming that sluggish start with a 28-point fourth quarter, the Hornets fell short, losing their seventh consecutive game, 83-81 Saturday night in the New Orleans Arena.

It was the first win by the Mavs in New Orleans since Dec. 2006, a stretch of 11 games, including three in the postseason.

"We came out very lazy in the third quarter, they got out to a quick jump, and then we had to fight back again," said Hornets forward Trevor Ariza. "We did that. We're used to doing that. In the fourth quarter we have to figure out ways to execute our plays and get quality shots and not make the mistakes we've been making."

The Hornets, in losing for the 13th time in 14 games, had their chances late, playing a rare, turnover-free fourth quarter. New Orleans was in the free-throw bonus for the game's final 8:56, and made nine of 11 from line, including Jarrett Jack's intentional miss with 1.8 seconds to go, trailing 83-81. Jack rebounded the shot, but missed his attempt to tie at the buzzer.

"We had a chance; a play here or there, it's pretty much the same old story," said Ariza. "We were right there, then a turnover happens, or a missed rebound. ... We're not closing out games the way we know we can. That's the story of our season, so far.""