But the Nets rallied to tie the score, 51-51, with help from an unlikely source, Andray Blatche, who came off the bench and scored 14 points in the second quarter. From there, the Nets built an energy that they hope to sustain for this extended stretch of away games.

It is the team’s longest trip since the 1970s, a scheduling quirk in which they are being displaced by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

“You’ve got to get the ones you can get,” Carlesimo said before the game. “It’s a dangerous trip. You can string a lot of bad games together on this trip.”

“There’s a number of games where you feel like when you get one, you stole one,” he added. “We all watch each other. People look at the games, and they go, ‘Well, they’re not getting any of these.’ So when you get one of these, you feel like you really gained one in the standings.”

The Nets instead remained one game behind the Knicks in the Atlantic Division.

“I’m the kind of guy that takes it one game at a time,” Lopez said, “but we definitely want to ride this momentum and do a lot of the things we’ve been doing the past couple games. I was just riding the momentum. Our guys were playing so well, it’s hard not to get a little emotional.”

Dirk Nowitzki scored 16 points to lead the Mavericks, who opened a stretch of six home games while fighting for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Chris Kaman had 14 points and Mike James added 12 for Dallas, which was continually pressured down low by Lopez and Blatche and was outscored by 52-34 in the paint.

The Nets’ tour of mostly Western playoff contenders will continue Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers, followed by games at Phoenix, Portland, Denver and Utah. The Nets will play an eighth consecutive road game, at Cleveland on April 3, but will have returned home before leaving to play the Cavaliers.