DALLAS, Texas – Dirk Nowitzki shrugged off a slow start to score 22 points Wednesday as Dallas won their ninth straight NBA contest with a 112-109 decision over Minnesota.

Veteran point guard Jason Kidd had the night off for Dallas, but the Mavericks compensated with 26 points from Jason Terry and 17 from French rookie Rodrigue Beaubois - his season high.

Terry scored seven of his points after taking an elbow to the face late in the third quarter when he was called for a foul despite being sprawled on is back with a bloody nose after the play.

"He's tough, but he'll be all right," said Nowitzki, who missed his first five shots from the floor.

But Nowitzki heated up and his shot with six minutes to play put the Mavericks ahead for good.

Corey Brewer had 24 points for the Timberwolves, who have lost 10 of 11.

Minnesota were without leading scorer Al Jefferson, who was serving the first of the two-game suspension that followed his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving on Sunday.

Jefferson has apologized to the team and fans and said he accepted the sanction meted out by the team.

While the 14-48 Timberwolves are in last place in the Western Conference, they beat Dallas a month ago.

They closed the third quarter with a 10-0 scoring run to pull within two points, and Ramon Sessions' layup just a minute into the fourth period knotted the score at 91-91.

Minnesota took a 93-91 lead on Corey Brewer's shot, but Nowitzki put the Mavericks ahead for good 99-98 and Dallas held on to post their first nine-game winning streak since 2007.

"They are a spunky team," said Dallas forward Shawn Marion, who had 17 points. "We had them on their heels and we should have put them on their backs."