Mavericks  117    Nets  101

Dallas Mavericks (13-5) at New Jersey Nets (0-17), 7:30 p.m.

Sports Network | December 2, 2009

(Sports Network) - The New Jersey Nets try to avoid the NBA's worst-ever start when they open a two-game homestand Wednesday night versus the Dallas Mavericks at the IZOD Center.

The 0-17 start by the Nets ties them with the 1988-89 expansion Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers in the lockout-shortened 1999 season. The Nets can have the record to themselves if they lose tonight at home, where they are winless in six games this season.

Before New Jersey closed out a four-game road trip Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center, head coach Lawrence Frank was fired and assistant Tom Barrise was tabbed as interim coach for the next two games. Barrise will coach the team for a last time Wednesday night before yielding to Kiki Vandeweghe, who will remain at the helm for the rest of the season. Vandeweghe has been serving as the Nets' general manager since May 2008, after first joining the organization on December 31, 2007 as special assistant to club president Rod Thorn.

In Sunday's 106-87 loss to the Lakers, Brook Lopez scored 26 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Nets, who trailed by as many as 34 points. Devin Harris scored 16 points and Courtney Lee added 15 in defeat.

"We're struggling. It's a tough day," said Barrise. "We had flurries, but that's a great basketball team over there. We tried to stay focused, but now we move on. It's hard to deal with 0-17. You wake up and you feel it, but it will be a positive for us later on."

New Jersey will also host the Charlotte Bobcats on the residency.

Meanwhile, the Southwest Division-leading Mavericks will open a brief two-game road trip tonight against New Jersey and Memphis, and are 7-3 away from Big D this season.

Dallas has won three of its last four games to improve to 13-5 this season and is coming off Monday's 104-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at American Airlines Center. Jason Terry was the hero and buried the game-winning jumper with 1.4 seconds remaining for the Mavs, who got 28 points from Dirk Nowitzki.

Jason Kidd scored a season-high 22 points and handed out 11 assists to help Dallas to its eighth win in 10 tries.

"We ran something that was going to be him (Jason Terry) or Dirk, two good options. I thought the key on the whole thing was, he could have taken the shot quickly but he had the presence of mind to get the guy on his hip, use some clock and was able to get some separation and take the shot," said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle about the call for Terry.

The Mavericks have won 15 of the last 18 meetings with New Jersey, who have won the last two matchups as the host in this series.