By The Canadian Press

Dallas forward Josh Howard looked energized despite a long layoff from injury. The Toronto Raptors could have used some of his zip.

Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points and nine rebounds, and Howard scored 16 points in his season debut in the Mavericks' 129-101 victory over Toronto on Saturday night. Howard was in the starting lineup after missing all of the pre-season and the first five games while recovering from surgery on his left ankle and left wrist in May.

He was a little jittery at the beginning, but he quickly settled down with some aggressive moves to the basket.

"I was nervous as heck out there," he said. "But after I made my first couple free throws, I was fine."

Dallas native Chris Bosh had 26 points and 12 rebounds for Toronto, and Andrea Bargnani added 22 points.

Toronto opened a three-game trip Friday night with a 107-90 victory at New Orleans, but the Raptors were lethargic on the second night of the back-to-back.

"It was our first back-to-back, and they got off to a track meet," Bosh said. "We kind of played into their game. We settled for too many jump shots. They got long rebounds and were off to the races."

Elsewhere in the NBA it was: New Jersey 86 Boston 76; Atlanta 125 Denver 100; Chicago 93 Charlotte 90; Milwaukee 102 New York 87; Sacramento 104 Utah 99; And Los Angeles Clippers 113 Memphis 110.

At Dallas, Howard admitted he'll be sore for a while, but he was pleased with his performance after adding four rebounds, two assists and three steals in 24 minutes.

"It's something I have to keep working through," Howard said. "Of course I'm fatigued and I have to work through the process of getting back to 100 per cent, which I'm not. But I felt pretty good, getting back in the swing of things. I had a good time out there."

Jason Terry added 19 points, and Shawn Marion had 18 points and eight rebounds for Dallas, hitting his last nine attempts from the field.

Marion saw flashes of the Mavericks' offensive potential in his first game with Howard. Marion joined the Mavericks from the Raptors in a multiple-team trade in July.

"It felt good, but a little weird because we haven't been out there," Marion said. "It's always good to have another weapon out there."

The Raptors set a club record with eight three-pointers in the third quarter against the Hornets, but Toronto made only 8 of 22 from long range against Dallas.

"They went past us, and they shot over us," Toronto coach Jay Triano said. "They had more movement and energy and had confidence in their shooting. Our energy level was low."

Howard got off to a fast start, contributing seven points and two rebounds while playing the entire first quarter as Dallas carried a 26-25 lead into the second quarter.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was impressed with Howard's first-quarter effort.

"He's definitely one of the high-energy guys," Carlisle said. "Josh was aggressive, which is his nature."

"You've got to be ready when the lights go on," said Howard, who was counted on to provide first-quarter offence for the Mavericks last season. "I want to be the guy who gets things going. I don't want to lose that job. The one person besides myself who does a great job in the first quarter is LeBron James."

Nowitzki had 16 points in the half to lead Dallas to a 55-48 lead. Bosh had 15 points and 10 points at the break.

The Mavericks broke the game open with a 15-4 run to start the third quarter, giving Dallas a 70-52 advantage.

Nowitzki converted his first three three-pointers and his first four field goal attempts of the third quarter to help Dallas to an 85-70 edge entering the final quarter.

Terry had 12 points in the fourth quarter and the Mavericks shot 74 per cent from the floor in the second half (29-for-39).

Nets 86 Celtics 76

At East Rutherford, N.J., Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce each scored 16 points, and Boston bounced back from its first loss of the season to beat the winless New Jersey Nets.

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Hawks 125 Nuggets 100

At Atlanta, Jamal Crawford scored 25 points, and Josh Smith had 22 points, nine rebounds, six blocked shots and seven assists for the Hawks..

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Bulls 93 Bobcats 90

At Chicago, John Salmons scored 27 points, and Joakim Noah added a career-high 21 points and had 16 rebounds in the Bulls' third straight win.

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Bucks 102 Knicks 87

At Milwaukee, Andrew Bogut scored a season-high 22 points and had eight rebounds, and rookie Jodie Meeks added 19 points for the Bucks.

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Kings 104 Jazz 99

At Salt Lake City, Tyreke Evans scored a career-high 32 points and Sacramento held off Utah in the Kings' first game without high-scoring guard Kevin Martin.

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Clippers 113 Grizzlies 110

At Los Angeles, Chris Kaman had 26 points and nine rebounds to help the Clippers win their third straight game - equalling their longest winning streak last season.