Ronnie Brewer scored 21 points and Deron Williams contributed 17 points and 13 assists as Utah rolled to a 97-88 victory over Dallas.

Despite playing without injured cornerstones Carlos Boozer, Memo Okur and Paul Millsap, the Jazz snapped a two-game losing streak against the Mavericks, who for the fifth time in a six-game stretch played on the road.

Both teams had legitimate excuses in the first game of the season between these Western Conference rivals.

In the end, only the Mavericks needed one.

"Our guys came out and did a nice job," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "... It really seemed like they pulled together and tried to win the game. I was happy about that."

Dallas' perennial All-Star, Dirk Nowitzki, wasn't in such a good mood.

Early in the fourth quarter, with Utah nursing a 78-68 lead, Nowitzki was ejected after flagrantly fouling Matt Harpring.

The Jazz turned the sequence into a five-point play, opened an 83-68 lead and held on down the stretch.

"It appeared to me to be accidental," said Dallas coach Rick Carlisle. "But they said his fist was closed so it's an automatic [ejection]."

The critical chain of events started when C.J. Miles missed a jumper.

Fesenko went over the top of Nowitzki for the rebound and scored.

As the ball dropped through the basket, Nowitzki got tangled up with Harpring. He ended up smacking Harpring in the face, earning the flagrant foul.

Harpring made the free throw and, with the Jazz retaining possession, buried a jump shot that gave the team a 16-point lead with 9:48 left.

"He just turned around and threw a nice little punch," Harpring said. "I mean, what are you going to do? Can't retaliate. I don't want to get fined. I don't want to lose any money there. So you just take it."

Despite a bruised cheek from Nowitzki's punch, Harpring liked the fact that the Mavs had to play down the stretch without the former Most Valuable Player.

"Obviously it was good to get him out of the game," he said, "so it worked in our favor

Fesenko's rebound and basket started the whole incident.

"I get the rebound," he said. "I maybe push him in the back a little bit and he don't like it. Then probably Matt push him a little bit also and he didn't like it, so ...

"I don't think it was something really brutal what happened. Like, I don't push him really hard. Just a game-time moment. It happens all the time. I don't know why he was so frustrated."

Put some of the blame on Andrei Kirilenko, whose in-your-face defense bothered Nowitzki from the beginning.

"I was trying to stay close to him because he is such a great player," said Kirilenko. "You can't give him space. So that's why I'm trying to be close to him every time."

Without Nowitzki, the Mavericks got as close as five.

James Singleton's dunk with 6:29 remaining made it 85-80 and the Jazz seemed on the verge of wasting an energetic effort.

On their next possession, however, Brewer buried a 17-footer after a perfectly-time pass by Williams. His basket triggered a 7-2 burst that put away the Mavericks.

"It's always huge to get a win at home in front of your crowd, but especially tonight," Brewer said. "... We had a lot of guys out -- guys that contribute big for us. But a lot of other guys came ready to play. Overall, we played really well as a team."

luhm@sltrib.com Storylines

IN BRIEF ? The Jazz return home from their pre-Christmas trip and snap a two-game losing streak.

KEY MOMENT ? Kyrylo Fesenko scores, Dirk Nowitzki is called for a flagrant foul and Matt Harpring converts a free throw and a jump shot. The five-point play gives the Jazz an 83-66 lead.

KEY STAT ? The Jazz get a combined 26 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots from Kosta Koufos and Fesenko.