Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki has passed Kevin Garnett on the NBA's all-time scoring list to move into 14th place.

While both players are still active and the standings could yet change, Nowitzki moved to 25,361 career points after scoring 18 on Monday night in the loss to the Denver Nuggets.

"This is another great honour for me, but you know we're going to keep going back and forth," he told ESPN.

"Obviously, we're both still active, but it's nice to be up there with a guy that's been around so long and has been effective for so long."

Nowitzki has spent all 16 of his NBA seasons in Dallas, while Garnett switched to Brooklyn in the summer.