After a slow start, Mayo began to heat up, Carter hit three 3-pointers and the Mavericks opened a 55-44 lead at halftime. The Mavericks got a huge boost from their reserves, who outscored their counterparts 25-7.

Dallas' lead might have been even larger had it not been for Walker, who had 17 first-half points on 7-of-10 shooting.

Dunlap said breaking the losing streak against Dallas was huge for his team's confidence moving forward.

"There are a lot of first in terms of taking care of some things and we take full responsibility in terms of some of the things people see as a negative," Dunlap said. "We should be able to beat other teams that have had long winning streaks against us and we expect to beat them the hard way. We have to earn it."

NOTES: Haywood returned to the starting lineup after missing Friday's night game at New Orleans to deal with a family matter. ... Carlisle offered no update on when Dirk Nowitzki (knee) or Shawn Marion (knee) will return from their injuries. ... The Bobcats outrebounded the Mavs 36-20 in the second half and overtime.