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Nowitzki scored 18 points and provided the emotional lift as the Mavericks walloped the visiting Golden State Warriors 111-86 on Wednesday night.

 Nowitzki suffered a high left ankle and knee sprain on March 23 that was expected to keep him sidelined indefinitely. However, with the Mavericks fighting for a playoff berth in the tight Western Conference, the German wunderkind decided to give his teammates a helping hand.

 "I figured if it was November there was no way I would be playing," said Nowitzki, who hit six-of-15 floor shots in 27 minutes. "But we're in a playoff race and we're still trying to get to seventh or eighth seed, so I just had to gut it out."

   Jason Terry matched his season-high with 31 points while Josh Howard added 28 for the Mavericks (47-28), who moved one game ahead of idle Denver for the seventh spot and two better than Golden State in the post-season race with seven games remaining.

 Terry described Nowitzki's return as uplifting.

 "It looked like Dirk would be out for a month or two, but for our leader to bounce back and do everything he needed to do while we were on the road is very inspiring," he said. "For Dirk to be ready tonight just speaks volumes of what he means to this team and that's why he is the league MVP."

   Jason Kidd had 17 assists along with 11 rebounds and five points as the Mavericks improved to 11-10 since acquiring the All-Star guard from New Jersey in February.

 Monta Ellis scored 27 points, Baron Davis had 20, but Stehen Jackson finished with a mere two - well below his 20-point season average - as the Warriors (45-30) lost consecutive games for the first time since early January.

 Elsewhere:    LA Lakers 104, Portland Trail Blazers 91    Kobe Bryant scored 14 of his 36 points in the final quarter to go along with 13 assists and seven rebounds as the Lakers celebrated the return of Pau Gasol.

 The Spanish centre finished with 10 points, six rebounds and seven assists in 32 minutes after missing the last nine games because of a left ankle sprain suffered on March 14.

 "It'll feel a little sore," Gasol said, "but it's good to be out there, contribute and help the team win."

   Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster paced Portland with 23 points apiece.

 Milwaukee Bucks 110, Washington Wizards 109    Rookie Ramon Sessions nailed a 20-foot jumper from the left corner to beat the buzzer, spoiling the return of Gilbert Arenas following a 66-game absence.

 The All-Star guard, making his first appearance since undergoing knee surgery on November 16, finished with 17 points in 19 minutes. His two free throws with 15 seconds left put the Wizards ahead, 109-108 before Sessions hit the game-winner.

 LA Clippers 102, Seattle SuperSonics 84    Al Thornton scored 21 points and Elton Brand made a successful season-debut on his surgically repaired left Achilles' tendon with 19 points in 25 minutes, helping the visiting Clippers to just their second win in the last 13 games.

 Boston Celtics Celtics 92, Indiana Pacers 77    Kevin Garnett collected 20 points with 11 rebounds and the host Celtics' league-leading 60th victory matched the best single-season turnaround in NBA history. The Celtics finished 24-48 mark a year ago, but their 60-15 mark represents a 24-game difference, equalling the 1996-97 San Antonio Spurs when Tim Duncan entered the league.

 New Orleans Hornets 106, Miami Heat 77    David West scored 22 points while Tyson Chandler made all 10 shots en route to a 20-point, 10-rebound effort as the Hornets took a half-game lead over idle San Antonio atop the tight Western Conference.

 Cleveland Cavaliers 118, Charlotte Bobcats 114    LeBron James scored 29 points before fouling with just under four minutes remaining, and Devin Brown added 20, including two game-sealing free throws with 20 seconds left, helping the Cavaliers end a six-game road slide. Jason Richardson tossed in 31 points for Charlotte (28-47) and Emeka Okafor equaled a season-high with 25.

 Memphis Grizzlies 130, New York Knicks 114    Rookie Javaris Crittenton scored a career-high 23 points, Rudy Gay had 21 and the Grizzlies ran past the visiting Knicks with their best offensive effort of the season.

 Atlanta Hawks 127, Toronto Raptors 120 (OT)    Mike Bibby's three-pointer with half a second left forced overtime and Josh Smith nailed two triples in the extra session as the Hawks' fifth straight win moved them four games ahead of Indiana for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

 Joe Johnson led Atlanta with 28 points, Bibby 26 and Smith finished with 24. Chris Bosh topped Toronto with 24 points while T.J. Ford had 23 and 13 assists.

 Utah Jazz 117, Minnesota Timberwolves 100    Turkey's Mehmet Okur scored 22 points while Deron Williams had 19 with 14 assists as the Jazz won its 50th game of the season and improved to a league-best 34-4 at home.

By Paul Levine, dpa