end of the ice when Fleury misplayed

HOUSTON -- Dirk Nowitzki scoffed at the notion that hes playing as well now as he did when he led the Dallas Mavericks to a title in 2011. He will, however, concede that at age 35 hes having a pretty good season. Nowitzki scored 31 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, to lead the Mavericks to a 111-104 win over the Houston Rockets on Monday night. He joked that his big night was simply luck before getting serious and discussing the work he puts in off the court. "Hopefully I can light it up a couple of more years and then slowly fade away," he said, breaking into a huge smile. Dallas coach Rick Carlisle isnt surprised at what Nowitzki, who is averaging 21.5 points a game, is doing for his team this season. "Hes the great Dirk Nowitzki," Carlisle said. "Hes one of the great players in the history of the game." Nowitzki missed the first 27 games of last season after knee surgery and the Mavericks missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. He feels like his game is good now and his injury is behind him, but he wants to do more. "The driving the ball is whats missing a little now," he said. "I do a lot of one or two dribble and then up, but I want to get back to driving some more to the basket and get to the foul line. I dont think Im in 11 shape, but compared to the last two years I feel a lot better. The right knee is great and I feel better." Nowitzkis performance on Monday night gave him 25,629 career points, which moved him past Alex English for 13th place in scoring in NBA history. Houston cut the lead to six after a 3-pointer by Aaron Brooks with about 3 1/2 minutes left, but Nowitzki knocked down consecutive baskets to push the Mavericks lead to 107-97. Houston coach Kevin McHale was frustrated that his team was unable to slow Nowitzki down. "We tried a bunch of different stuff," McHale said. "We tried showing and coming back. We tried staying on there. We tried running at him. Nothing seemed to work." Dwight Howard had 29 points and 15 rebounds for the Rockets, who were playing their second straight game without leading scorer James Harden, who was out with a sprained left ankle. Dallas started the final period by using a 9-4 run powered by three 3-pointers, including two from Jae Crowder, to push the lead to 95-82. Jeremy Lin, who has been out since Dec. 13 because of back spasms, scored 20 and Chandler Parsons had 21 for Houston. Dallas outscored Houston 17-10 over the last five minutes of the third quarter to stretch a one-point lead into an 86-78 advantage entering the fourth quarter. Vince Carter scored seven points during that time and Crowder added five. Monta Ellis had 18 points for Dallas, Carter had 16 and Jose Calderon added 15 points with five assists. With the speedy Harden out, the Rockets relied on their inside game and outscored the Mavericks 60-32 in the paint. But the Mavericks had the advantage from 3-point range, where they made 11 to Houstons seven 3-pointers. "They hit a lot of tough shots tonight, especially in the second half," Howard said. "They shot great the whole game. When a team is shooting that good they are tough to beat." A 15-1 spurt by Dallas to open that second half erased a seven-point halftime deficit and gave the Mavericks a 65-58 lead with eight minutes left in the third quarter. Nowitzki led the way in that stretch, making seven points including a 3-pointer. The Rockets came out flat to start the third, missing six shots and turning the ball over twice in the first few minutes of the quarter. The Rockets finally snapped out of their offensive slump after that, using a 10-4 run to get within 69-68 with about 5 1/2 minutes left in the quarter. Parsons made four quick points near the end of it before Howard put an exclamation point on the run with a nifty sideways alley-oop dunk. Houston led by one point about six minutes before halftime and used an 11-2 run over the next four minutes to extend its lead to 52-42. Howard got things going in that span by scoring six straight points and capped the run with a free throw. The Rockets led 57-50 at halftime. NOTES: Houston announced during the game that guard Patrick Beverley had surgery on Monday to repair a fracture in his right hand and will be out 4-6 weeks. ... Calderon has scored more than 10 points in 18 of his last 20 games. ... Houston has scored at least 60 points in the paint in three of its last four games. Cheap Bengals Jerseys . The whole deflation of New England Patriots footballs is like a murder mystery without the violence or significance. On one side, this is a ridiculous issue. Cheap Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys .com) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to play spoiler as the Los Angeles Kings will try to match their longest winning streak in over four years in Thursdays battle at Staples Center. http://www.cheapbengalsjerseyselite.com/. In this space, I will be writing new and unique pieces about the team that you wont be able to find anywhere else. So naturally, in an attempt to come up with a fresh topic about the Ottawa Senators, I am going to start with a piece about their goaltending. Wholesale Bengals Jerseys . Karlovic of Croatia used his big serve to beat Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7). Kohlschreiber had lost all of his three previous matches against Istomin but the German broke serve for a decisive 3-2 lead in the third set and held on to reach his first final of the year. Cheap Bengals Jerseys China .J. -- All those records, all for naught.PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins wont meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. If their paths cross down the line, the theatre should be delicious. As usual. Mark Streits backhanded shot from the right circle caromed between Marc-Andre Fleurys pads 2:10 into overtime as the Flyers beat the Penguins 4-3 on Saturday to assure themselves of a first-round matchup with the Metropolitan Division-rival New York Rangers. Streits 10th goal of the season was the game-winner. "It was another big game, its always a big rivalry," Streit said of the Penguins. "It got heated at the end, a lot of emotions. We wanted that third spot and we got it." Jakub Voracek scored twice for the Flyers, and Claude Giroux added his team-high 28th goal of the season. Ray Emery made 12 saves after replacing injured starter Steve Mason to begin the third period. Mason was held out as a precaution after getting bowled over late in the second period when Pittsburghs Jayson Megna failed to put on the brakes while streaking to the net. Flyers coach Craig Berube expects Mason to be fine, though the play turned an atypically sleepy meeting between the two clubs into something decidedly more lively. There were three goals in the final 5 minutes of regulation, a brief dust-up at the end of regulation that led to a rare 3-on-3 to start overtime, and plenty of pushing and shoving. At one point Philadelphias Scott Hartnell hit Kris Letang from behind just days after Letang returned from a stroke that kept the 2013 Norris Trophy finalist out for more than two months. While Letang called the incident "part of the game," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma was a little more pointed. "Its a guy picking on a guy who had a stroke," Bylsma said. If thats the case, Berube is wondering why Letang is in the lineup at all. "Then (Letang) shouldnt be out there playing, bottom line," Berube said. "Its a stupid comment." Letang gained a measure of revenge when he scored with 36 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime, his first goal since Jan. 23. He nearly won it in overtime but Emery made a sharp stick save. SSeconds later, the Flyers were celebrating at the other end of the ice when Fleury misplayed Streits innocent-looking backhander.dddddddddddd. "It was a great pass by (Matt) Niskanen," Letang said of the near miss. "It could have ended it and probably should have." Jussi Jokinen and James Neal also scored for Pittsburgh. Fleury stopped 17 shots and hardly looked sharp while giving up the winner. The Penguins will play either Detroit or Columbus in the opening round of the post-season. Philadelphias victory might be a blessing for the Penguins, who lost the season series to the Flyers 4-1 and were shoved out of the playoffs by Philadelphia two years ago. Still, Pittsburgh — which locked up the Metropolitan Division title more than a week ago — saw progress. "I thought we were much better, and for a game that doesnt move us in the standings anywhere, I liked our mindset," said centre Sidney Crosby, who earned an assist to boost his NHL-leading point total to 104. The Penguins spent most of the first two periods tilting the ice but struggled to beat Mason. The NHLs top-ranked, power-play unit couldnt convert during a 5-on-3 advantage early in the second that lasted more than 90 seconds. A one-timer by Neal clanged off the right post, and Mason made a lunging glove save from his belly to deny Beau Bennett. Thrust into action unexpectedly after Mason left the game, Emery was similarly sharp. His best save might have been his last when he denied Letang. "Im just happy that it turned out the right way," Emery said. "It was kind of ugly, but it turned out the right way." NOTES: The game was the 400th behind the bench for Bylsma, who is 252-117-31 since taking over midway through the 2008-09 season. Only Eddie Johnston (516) has coached more games in team history. ... The crowd of 18,673 tied the largest at Consol Energy Center since it opened on Oct. 7, 2010. ... Philadelphia D Hal Gill played 15 minutes in his first game since Dec. 21. Gill had been a healthy scratch in 44 straight games. ... Both teams will end the regular season on Sunday. Pittsburgh will host Ottawa, and the Flyers will face Carolina in Philadelphia. 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