NEW YORK - The red-hot Dallas Mavericks routed the Los Angeles Lakers 108-72 to notch up their 17th consecutive victory on Sunday.

Dallas Mavericks' Jerry Stackhouse (L) and Dirk Nowitzki laugh on the bench during the second half of the Mavericks' 108-72 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles, March 11, 2007. [Reuters]

Josh Howard scored 24 points as the Mavericks handed the injury-plagued Lakers their worst home loss since the team moved to Los Angeles in 1960.

Dallas, which has won 52 of its 61 games this season, held the Lakers to 11 points in the deciding second quarter as the Mavericks avenged a January loss that snapped a 13-game winning streak.

Los Angeles, despite 25 points from Kobe Bryant, has now lost six in a row.

"I thought we made it tough on some of their scorers," Dallas coach Avery Johnson told reporters.

"We had guys like (Jerry) Stackhouse and Josh come alive for us in the first half -- and (Greg) Buckner and (Devean) George and Josh trying to compete as hard as they could on Bryant."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he was upset with the performance of his team.

"That was an embarrassing loss for us," Jackson told reporters. "There's no excuse for the way we played.

Dirk Nowitzki added 19 points for Dallas and four other players scored in double figures for the Mavericks, whose win streak is the longest in franchise history.

The streak ties the Mavericks for the seventh-longest in NBA history. The Phoenix Suns also won 17 in a row this season.

Johnson, the Dallas coach, downplayed the significance of the streak.

"You know, we really don't look at it like that," Johnson said. "It's just one game -- we just won one game -- and fortunately, we've been able to string together a couple of wins, but we know that some of those wins could have gone either way. That's why we don't really think too much about ourselves in that area."

Dallas led by only four at 28-24 after the first period. But the Mavericks outscored the Lakers 31-11 in the second period to take command.

Howard scored 13 points and Stackhouse seven in the big quarter, which Dallas ended with a 13-0 run.

Lakers guard Smush Parker was ejected with 9:28 left in the period for his second technical foul.

YAO IMPRESSIVE

*Yao Ming scored 37 points, collected seven rebounds and blocked four shots to power the Houston Rockets to a 103-92 home win over the Orlando Magic. The game was Yao's fourth back and most impressive since missing 32 games with a broken right leg. Grant Hill led Orlando with 17 points.

*Udonis Haslem scored just before the buzzer as the Miami Heat won their sixth straight game with a 106-104 home victory over the Washington Wizards. Eddie Jones had 18 points and Gary Payton 17 for the Heat, who have won 12 straight at home. Gilbert Arenas scored 33 for Washington.

*Allen Iverson had 24 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals as the Denver Nuggets ended a 20-game losing streak in Sacramento with a 113-101 win over the Kings. Carmelo Anthony added 29 points for the Nuggets. Ron Artest, who was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence last week, returned from suspension and had 17 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists.

*LeBron James contributed 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers won their fifth straight game, 99-88 over the visiting Indiana Pacers. Mike Dunleavy scored 25 points for the Pacers, who have lost nine straight games.