Mayo breaks slump, leads Mavs past Pistons, 92-77

Mayo's transition bucket got the Mavs' offense running again, and he fed off the pace by hitting four 3-pointers while scoring 16 points during a 17-4 run that stretched into a 25-6 surge and erased a nine-point Detroit lead in the third quarter.

"I passed up some open shots in the second quarter, came into the locker room, said, 'Just go out there and play your game,'" said Mayo, who was 10 of 21 overall and 6 of 9 from long distance. "So I just went out there, started shooting and tried to be aggressive."

Brandon Knight led Detroit with 20 points, including 18 in the first half. But the Pistons still fell to 1-10 on the road.

Mayo, who shot 32 percent and made just one of 10 from 3-point range the previous three games, scored the first 11 Dallas points in the third quarter, including a trio of 3s punctuated by a timeout as disgusted Detroit coach Lawrence Frank stomped onto the court well before the whistle even blew.

The Mayo surge started on defense for Dallas, which held the Pistons to 20 percent shooting while outscoring them 25-11 in the third quarter.

"Well, guys, did you see the type of shots we were getting?" Frank said. "We missed 29 shots within two feet of the basket. So, the problem is, we've got the make those shots. Then the next thing is we've got to get back."

Fisher got the start a day after the 16-year veteran's first practice with the Mavs. His presence seemed to spark Darren Collison, the struggling young point guard he was brought in to help. Collison had eight assists and no turnovers.

"He enhances our situation a lot of different ways," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "He gives us more options, and his experience, you just can't substitute what that means."

Fisher's stat line was modest — two points on 1-of-8 shooting and three assists — in his first action since helping Oklahoma City reach the NBA Finals last year. But Collison looked much better. He hit a 3-pointer when the Mavericks were struggling in the first half, and assisted on dunks by Bernard James and Shawn Marion in the second half.