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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Dirk Nowitzki has impressed opposing players and coaches with his imposing size and exceptional athletic ability.

Nowitzki scored 32 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in the Dallas Mavericks' 98-85 victory over Memphis on Saturday night, sending the Grizzlies to their second loss in as many games since Hubie Brown retired suddenly as coach.

It was Nowitzki's 10th double-double of the young season.

"Dirk is such a freak," Grizzlies interim coach Lionel Hollins said. "This guy is 7-foot and plays like a guard. The guy is just a great player. ... There's no more that needs to be said about him."

Jerry Stackhouse added 20 points, Erick Dampier 16 and Josh Howard 12 for Dallas, which won its second straight after a three-game losing streak.

Mike Miller led Memphis with 20 points, and Pau Gasol had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Grizzlies. It was the team's first home appearance since Brown announced his retirement Thursday, citing unspecified health reasons.

Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley said that former Atlanta and Cleveland coach Mike Fratello met with president of basketball operation Jerry West about the position. Fratello has been mentioned as the replacement for the 71-year-old Brown.

Memphis went without a field goal for a span of almost 11 minutes as Dallas erased a 10-point lead in the third period. By the time Memphis made another field goal -- on Shane Battier's jumper with 5:21 left -- Dallas had built an 87-78 lead.

From there, Dallas coasted and built the lead to as many as 14 behind Nowitzki's shooting and baskets by guard Jason Terry, who finished with 10.

"The key to the game was the defense that we had after the half," Terry said. "Collectively, we had to play solid defense and run down every rebound. We wanted to get Gasol out of the paint, and everyone took it as a personal challenge to make that happen."

Gasol said a major difference in the second half was starters playing at least 35 minutes, where under the Brown 10-man rotation, they averaged 26-to-30 minutes. The fatigue contributed to the scoring drought.

"I felt more comfortable having fewer guys in the game," Hollins said. "I like to put the responsibility on the starters to play. These guys aren't used to playing big minutes at this stage. ... That's why we started missing shots -- because we were getting tired."

Dallas dominated the inside game, outrebounding Memphis 48-40 and outscoring the Grizzlies in the paint 52-26.

Memphis used a strong shooting first half in which they hit on 49 percent of its shots to take a 58-51 lead into the break. Bonzi Wells, who finished with 15 points, and Miller scored 13 each in the first half as the Grizzlies went to a smaller, better-shooting starting lineup.

"We didn't play the way we are capable of playing in the first half," Dampier said. "We've just got to come out and play the first half. We can't have another first half like we did tonight."

Game notes

The Grizzlies, already with starter James Posey on the injured list and reserve F Stromile Swift nursing a scratched cornea, were also without Brian Cardinal, who injured his right ankle in Friday's loss to Minnesota. ... The Grizzlies showed a video montage of Brown during the game's first timeout, drawing a standing ovation from the Memphis crowd. ... Memphis C Lorenzen Wright, who started 12 straight games, came off the bench because of matchup problems. The only game Wright hadn't started was an opening-night loss to the Wizards as he served a one-game suspension for fighting in a preseason game.