DALLAS — Tony Parker was exhausted, having done everything the San Antonio Spurs wanted him to by aggressively taking the ball to the basket.

When Parker wasn't scoring, Tim Duncan was while bouncing back from the worst playoff game in his long career.

That still wasn't enough to save the Spurs from the brink of an unusual early playoff elimination against the Dallas Mavericks.

Josh Howard scored 28 points, seven in an early second-half spurt that put Dallas ahead to stay in a 99-90 victory yesterday. The Mavs gained a 3-1 lead in their first-round Western Conference series, putting them on the verge of ousting a Spurs team that has little beyond Parker and Duncan.

"It's obvious that that's what we need to do. Those guys have to have the ball as much as possible," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Sure, we hope that other people step up and make shots and make plays. It didn't happen enough."

For the Mavericks, it did — even without big nights from Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry.

"They have a lot more weapons than us," said Parker, who had 31 of his 43 points by halftime.

Without an incredible comeback, beginning in Game 5 in San Antonio on Tuesday night, the Spurs will be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2000. They have been in every postseason since and won three NBA titles.

"They're not going anywhere," Jason Kidd said. "We have to understand that. ... It's not easy to put a team away, especially a team that has won championships."

HEAT 107, HAWKS 78:

Dwyane Wade finished with 29 points and eight assists, Jermaine O'Neal added 22 points and 10 rebounds, and host Miami took a 2-1 series lead over Atlanta, which missed 17 of its first 19 shots and trailed 50-29 at intermission.

HORNETS 95, NUGGETS 93:

Chris Paul had 32 points and 12 assists in 46 minutes, and Rasual Butler made two free throws with 1:33 left for a 94-86 lead as host New Orleans held off Denver and pull to 2-1 in the first-round series with Game 4 coming up tomorrow night.

LAKERS 108, JAZZ 94:

Kobe Bryant scored 38 points, Lamar Odom had 10 points and 15 rebounds, and visiting Los Angeles used a 40-point second quarter for a 60-53 lead in beating Utah to take a 3-1 series advantage.