Dallas, TX (My Sportsbook) - Jason Kidd had a milestone game, scoring 19 points and dishing a season-high 20 assists as the Dallas Mavericks crushed the Phoenix Suns, 140-116, at American Airlines Center.

Kidd passed Hall of Famer Earvin "Magic" Johnson for third place on the all- time NBA assists list, giving him 10,142 for his career. He accomplished the feat with a minute remaining in the first half when he fed Josh Howard for a jump shot. Kidd now trails only Mark Jackson (10,334) and Utah Jazz great John Stockton (15,806).

"Jason Kidd has an iron will," Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said. "Just absolutely unbelievable. Nineteen points, 20 assists. Some of the stuff that he was inventing out there offensively for us was just phenomenal. It kept giving our team more and more confidence and we rode the wave."

Dirk Nowitzki led all scorers with 28 points, while Howard and Jason Terry donated 24 and 18 points, respectively, for Dallas, which recovered after dropping a 102-97 decision to Memphis on Friday. The Mavericks now lead the Suns by four games for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with five to play.

Dallas has won three of four overall and trails Utah by a game for seventh place in the West.

Brandon Bass chipped in with 14 points and six boards, and James Singleton had 10 points in the win.

"We're not the only team in the league to score 140 points," Carlisle said. "We've got a lot of good players. Our guys had a tough loss a couple of nights ago but we battled back from that all year. I had no doubt we would respond. I felt we were the better team. But I knew we had to prove it on the court. Our guys did a good job."

Leandro Barbosa had a team-high 24 points for the Suns, who were unable to feed off a 139-111 rout of Sacramento on Friday. Phoenix had a brief two-game winning streak halted and has lost four of six overall.

Grant Hill went for 23 points and Shaquille O'Neal had 14 points and seven rebounds in defeat. Steve Nash had 12 points and eight helpers for Phoenix.

Dallas held a 39-33 lead after one quarter of play, but the Suns got to within a point at 46-45 following a Barbosa fade away jumper 3 1/2 minutes into the second.

However, two Singleton free throws started a 10-0 Mavs burst and, after Terry hit from beyond the arc, the hosts went ahead by double-digits with just over five minutes left before the half.

The Dallas advantage quickly ballooned to 21 after a Howard make with a minute to play, then he hit a lone-range buzzer beater and the Mavericks took a comfortable 81-59 edge into the break.

Things didn't get any better for the Suns in the third quarter as Dallas stretched its lead to 28 after Nowitzki knocked down a fade away jumper. The Mavs then took a 114-84 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Phoenix was unable to mount any kind of a threat in the final period and the hosts continued to have an easy time of it the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Dallas will resume its three-game homestand against Utah on Wednesday, while the Suns continue their four-game road trip at New Orleans...The Mavericks improved to 30-9 at home this season...Phoenix has lost nine of its last 10 road games and fell to 16-22 as the visitor...Dallas won three of the four meetings versus the Suns this season.