Mavericks 104, Celtics 94: Brandan Wright scored a season-high 23 points and Shawn Marion made a strong return from an eight-game absence as host Dallas spoiled Jason Terry’s return by knocking off Boston.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 22 points, Vince Carter had 19 off the bench and Marion collected 11 and 13 rebounds for the Mavericks, who pulled back within three games of .500 at 33-36. Dallas is 2 1/2 games behind the eighth-place Los Angeles Lakers, who lost to the Washington Wizards on Friday.

Kevin Garnett recorded 16 points and 12 boards and Brandon Bass had 16 and 11 while Terry, who spent the previous eight seasons with the Mavericks, was held to eight points on 3-of-9 shooting off the bench as the Celtics dropped their third straight.

Dallas, which got Marion back from a calf injury, led 55-44 at the half and pushed it out to as much as 79-65 before settling for an 11-point edge heading into the fourth.

Boston pulled to within 87-81 with 6:35 left before the Mavericks used a 6-0 burst to push it back to double digits. The Celtics would draw back within five points on Jeff Green’s layup with 1:51 remaining but O.J. Mayo responded with a 3-pointer for Dallas and Carter hit two free throws to help close it out.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Boston fell to 12-22 on the road and has dropped four straight away from TD Garden. The Celtics finish up their three-game road trip at Memphis on Saturday. … Boston G Courtney Lee rolled his left ankle late in the fourth quarter and did not return. … The Mavericks have not lost consecutive games this month and are 8-4 in March.