The Associated Press

DALLAS - Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points and Antoine Walker had 17 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 97-86 victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night.

Walker scored seven of his points in a game-turning 22-8 run in the third quarter that put Dallas ahead to stay as the Mavericks snapped the Rockets' four-game winning streak.

A free throw by Walker with 7:54 left started the run and put Dallas ahead 58-55. By the time he hit a long jumper 4 1/2 minutes later, the Mavericks led 73-63.

Dallas has won five games in a row against its instate rival.

Steve Nash had 16 points and Michael Finley added 14 for Dallas. Antawn Jamison had 13 points and eight rebounds.

Jim Jackson scored 23 points for Houston, which overcame a 50-44 halftime disadvantage with a 7-1 spurt to open the third quarter.

Steve Francis scored 15 points for the Rockets, while Kelvin Cato and Yao Ming had 12 each.

Francis was driving into the lane when he saw Jackson open on the left wing for a 3-pointer. After Walker's miss, Jackson grabbed an offensive rebound and went around Nowitzki to tie the game at 51 less than two minutes into the half.

But the Rockets never went ahead and the only other tie came after the teams traded baskets. Yao's follow-up layup made it 53-all before the Mavericks took the lead for good when Walker passed to Finley for a 13-foot jumper.

TRAIL BLAZERS: Coach Maurice Cheeks, in his third season with the team, agreed to a one-year contract extension. Terms of the deal, which runs through next season, were not released.

"There is a sense of relief in that I don't have to think about this during the year," Cheeks said.

BRYANT CASE: Kobe Bryant made his first court appearance Thursday before the judge who will handle his sexual assault trial, saying nothing as the parents of his accuser sat just a few feet away.

The defense waived Bryant's rights to be advised of the sexual assault charge against him and the penalty he faces if convicted - four years to life in prison and 20 years to life on probation. Bryant's $25,000 bail was left unchanged.

Judge Terry Ruckriegle set a pretrial hearing for Dec. 19 and another for Jan. 23 to settle various motions. Bryant will have to appear at both hearings to show he is complying with conditions of his bond.