CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Yes, that was a huge sigh of relief coming from the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night.

The Hornets struggled against the worst team in the NBA for most of the night, but eventually they were able to pull away in the final four minutes for a 97-87 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

It took two clutch 3-pointers from Kemba Walker down the stretch, and several big defensive stops before the Hornets finally prevailed.

Hornets coach Steve Clifford said his players felt more relieved than happy afterward, and he acknowledged that the Mavericks had his team out of rhythm throughout the game.

"I'll tell you what I told them, that's a lot better win than people are going to think," Clifford said. "That's a hard game to play. They played differently. It wasn't the conventional tempo for an NBA game. It was slower. They really execute and they really change their defenses a lot. Usually in an NBA game you get into a rhythm, but there's no way they were going to let us get into a rhythm tonight.

"That's the kind of game that good teams win. So I was proud of the way they fought. They were more relieved than happy, but it's a well-deserved win."

The Hornets (11-8) never trailed but never led by more than 11, early in the second quarter.

Walker led the Hornets with 18 points, and he clearly hit the two biggest shots of the night. With the Hornets leading 80-78, he hit a 3-pointer with 3:52 remaining to push the lead to five. Then with the Hornets still up at 90-85, he ended any remaining suspense with a 3-pointer to make it 93-85 with 41.9 seconds remaining.

Walker also hit a driving layup down the stretch, and Jeremy Lamb also contributed a three-point play and two free throws in the final four minutes.

"That was pretty ugly, but we take wins however we can get it," Walker said. "(Winning) says a lot. It shows resiliency. It shows toughness. It shows everything about us as a team. They really slowed it down tonight, but we stayed with the game and we pulled out a huge win."

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist added 14 points for the Hornets. Lamb and Nicolas Batum scored 12 each, and Roy Hibbert scored 11.

The Hornets have now won three of their last four, after a recent rough patch.

Clifford assessed the current status as OK, but not great.

"I'm not negative and I'm not false praise," Clifford said. "You can't take a step forward when guys think they're in a place where they're not. We are playing fine. It's not like we have guys that are knocking it out of the park, though."

The Mavs (3-15) have now lost 10 of their last 11. They have the worst record in the NBA and are off to the worst start through 18 games in franchise history.

They shot just 37.2 percent from the field and were just 9 of 31 from 3-point range.

Harrison Barnes led the way with 17 points and nine rebounds. Justin Anderson scored 15, and Wesley Matthews and Deron Williams scored 14 each. But Matthews (1 of 11 from 3-point range) and Williams (1 of 7 from 3-point range) combined to go 10 of 29 from the field.

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle was upbeat afterward, and he thinks his team will get a boost from the return of Dirk Nowitzki and others soon.

"I thought we were right there," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "It just comes down to a couple of plays. They hit a couple of threes, a three and a three-point play. We came up empty a couple of times. Guys are battling. We're hanging in. We're giving ourselves a chance. We just have to work through this period and get these guys fully healthy and get them full speed, full minutes. Our chances will be much greater."

"We're playing with the fight that we're supposed to be playing with," Matthews said. "If I shoot halfway decent, you give me those same looks and they're dropping, then it's a whole different ball game. We played hard, we played together, we fought back, we were in positions to take over the game. A couple of setbacks here and there, but I can't go 1 of 11."

NOTES: Mavs G Seth Curry (sprained knee) accompanied the team but could not play. He's a Charlotte native and the son of Hornets TV analyst Dell Curry. ... The Mavs were on a one-game trip, so F Dirk Nowitzki (Achilles), G Jose Juan Barea (strained calf) and C Andrew Bogut (rest) didn't even travel. ... The Hornets were without F Marvin Williams (knee). ... Hornets C Cody Zeller received a technical foul for hanging on the rim after a dunk in the second quarter. ... Hornets C Roy Hibbert was slapped with a technical foul in the fourth quarter after a tussle with Mavs C Salah Mejri. ... The Mavs and Hornets will meet again next Monday in Dallas. ... The Mavs were playing the second night of a back-to-back after losing at home to San Antonio 94-87 on Wednesday. ... The Hornets will close out a three-game home stand on Saturday night against Minnesota. ... The Mavs will return home to face Chicago on Saturday.