CHICAGO – Josh Howard had one of those special games Monday, the kind that normally are reserved for a rare breed of NBA player.

Like Dirk Nowitzki.

But there was no doubting that Howard was the superstar on this evening. He burned the Chicago Bulls early with 21 first-half points as the Mavericks built a nice lead.

And when the Bulls adjusted to Howard's hot hand, he started firing on-target passes instead of on-target shots.

Howard finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and a season-best six assists as the Mavericks beat the Bulls, 103-98, winning a road game for only the second time since Nov. 8.

They even survived a scare to Devin Harris, who felt like a ton of bricks had come down on his neck – or at least a few hundred pounds of Chicago Bulls during the third quarter.

Harris got caught in the paint with nothing but big bruisers around him. Joakim Noah was one of several players that crashed down on Harris in the third quarter and he spent the rest of the evening in the locker room with a neck strain. X-rays were negative and Harris said it's too early to tell whether he will play Wednesday in San Antonio, although coach Avery Johnson sounded optimistic.

Meanwhile, Howard was a beast. He and Chicago's Luol Deng had a shootout in a preseason game here, with neither playing much defense on the other. This time, it was different. Howard outscored Deng 21-2 in the first half. And Howard handled all other facets beautifully, particularly not forcing shots when the Bulls ran two defenders at him.

"I got double-teamed when I got the ball and they were swatting at it," Howard said. "I was able to find guys and get over my norm of two assists a game."

Actually, he shortchanged himself. He was averaging 2.1 assists coming in.

"Josh was a stud," coach Avery Johnson said. "In the first half, he scored an awful lot. But in the second half, they double-teamed him more and he made the correct passes. And they not only were on time, they were on target. He has the potential to do that every night. And he knew we needed to get a win."

This usually is a bad time to catch the Bulls. They have a history of turning it on in December, when they went 14-3 last year. But it appears there is no bad time to play them these days. Howard made sure of it.

The Mavericks led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter and never really were in danger down the stretch, despite the closeness of the score at the end. They hit their free throws and the Bulls never had a chance to tie the game or even get within two points.

AP

Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Howard (right) scored 21 first-half points against Chicago.

Nowitzki had 25 points in support of Howard and Jason Terry had 18 points, including four-of-six 3-pointers.

"Jet's always posting up for those 3s in the fourth quarter," Nowitzki said. "When that shot goes up, we just know it's money."

The Mavericks improved to 1-1 on the road trip with the visit to San Antonio remaining. The only concern was Harris' well-being.

He said it felt like two players came down on him.

"I felt his [Noah's] body come down and I tried to lift up," he said. "It's a little stiff. I'll get it worked on when we get to San Antonio."