CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Mavericks don't like to talk about pressure, but there was some legitimate weight bearing down on them Wednesday night.

They needed a win "in the worst way," as coach Avery Johnson said. They knew San Antonio had come through Bobcats Arena two days earlier and plowed aside Charlotte without much difficulty. It's one of those checkmarks on the schedule that you need, particularly when a key division rival already has done so.

And the Mavs sure didn't want to go home with an 0-2 record on this quick trip.

They needed a solid victory and, despite some deplorable fourth-quarter shooting, that's what they got. Devin Harris had one of his best games of the season and the Mavericks hung tough for a 102-95 triumph over the Bobcats, finishing the first half of the season at 28-13.

More important, they feel they have set themselves up for a big second-half surge after going 16-5 during the second quarter of the season. They are particularly optimistic about their future on the road, where they are a dead-solid-mediocre 10-10.

"You know what time it is," Jason Terry said. "It's the second half of the season. We're in a logjam at the top of the standings, so every game is critical.

"We don't have a choice. If you're going to be a good team, you have to win on the road. And we will."

For a night, they did what they needed to do, jumping on the Bobcats early, surviving a Charlotte run in the third quarter and overcoming their own shooting problems in the fourth with Harris leading a three-pronged attack.

He finished with 23 points and nine assists, the third time in four games he's had eight or more assists. He's averaged 19 points and 7.5 assists in that stretch.

The Mavs could get used to that. Avery Johnson was happy with the way Harris overcame a sloppy start to the second half.

"We were pretty upset at the beginning of the third quarter with his two turnovers," Johnson said. "We had a discussion about it, and he came back strong."

Harris had a traveling violation and a bad pass for the Mavericks' seventh and eighth turnovers.

They didn't have another one the rest of the night.

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Dallas Mavericks' Jerry Stackhouse (right) and Juwan Howard battle for a loose ball with Charlotte's Ryan Hollins.

Instead, Harris threw in 15 points, including two free throws with 1:36 left that moved the Mavericks ahead, 92-87, and began a string of 10 consecutive free throws without a miss down the stretch. They made only one field goal attempt in that time.

Considering they had started the fourth quarter 3-of-13 from the field, it was a good thing they got to the line. The Bobcats missed two chances to cut the gap further when it was 90-87 but couldn't get shots to drop.

Harris got help from Josh Howard, who had 82 friends and family members in attendance, and dazzled them with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki had 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

"For the most part, I like where we are right now," Howard said. "There are some things we need to work on. We just need to go on a few more runs, and I think we can do that."

The Mavericks also got some nice contributions from DeSagana Diop, Juwan Howard and Trenton Hassell, who helped fill the void left by injuries to Brandon Bass and Jerry Stackhouse.