by ldh2013 » Wed Jun 22, 2016 8:38 am
DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks got the early scare. . Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans ended up with the bigger problem. Nowitzki shook off a shoulder issue in the first minute to finish with 18 points, but Davis was knocked out of the game with a similar problem and the Mavericks beat the Pelicans 108-89 Wednesday night. "Im thinking Dirks going to be out when he goes out with a shoulder injury and then a few plays later AD gets hit and hes out," said New Orleans coach Monty Williams, who could now be without three of his top four scorers. "Dirk comes back. So, it just hasnt gone our way." Nowitzki left the court 31 seconds into the game but emerged a short time later and returned to the game. He even had a spin move and finished with a left-handed finger roll in the first half. "Ive had it ever since Karl Malone hacked me in 99," said Nowitzki, who was favouring the shoulder after throwing an alley-oop pass to Sam Dalembert for a layup on the first possession. "The shoulder just sometimes comes in and out a little bit. Its happened a good 20 times already over my career." Davis, the leading scorer and rebounder for the Pelicans, was holding his sprained left shoulder on his way to play defence and didnt return after leaving the game during a New Orleans timeout with 4:13 left in the first half. After the game, Williams didnt have an update on the condition of his All-Star big man, who was on the bench during the second half with his left arm in a sling. "When you play as hard as AD and these guys who go after it every single night, theyre going to have bumps and bruises," Williams said. "It could be nothing. It could be a day-to-day thing. Weve got to let the doctors do their deal." The Mavericks (36-23) are a season-high 13 games over .500 after their fourth straight win, and the Pelicans stayed winless since the All-Star break at 0-5. Eric Gordon led New Orleans with 19 points, and Brian Roberts had 17. Monta Ellis led Dallas with 23 points, seven assists and four steals, while Vince Carter scored 17. "Monta has been doing a great job I think picking his spots, attacking when its there," Nowitzki said. "Hes been great for us all season making plays off the dribble and getting in the lane." The injury to Davis is the latest in a litany of them for the Pelicans. Second-leading scorer Ryan Anderson is likely out for the season with a herniated disk. Jrue Holiday, another double-digit scorer and New Orleans assists leader, is sidelined after breaking his right shin in early January. Davis, who averages 20 points and 10 rebounds per game and leads the NBA in blocked shots, was sharp early to help the Pelicans build an eight-point lead. He had six points to go with a game-high nine rebounds and two blocks in just 12 minutes. "Its difficult, but guys have been in and out all year," Gordon said. "Weve just got to keep on adjusting." Even when they had Davis on the floor, the Pelicans couldnt protect the ball while getting swept in the four-game season series with Dallas. They had a season-high 19 turnovers after committing at least 16 in each of the previous three meetings. One of New Orleans turnovers ended with a pass to Nowitzki standing alone under the basket for a dunk and an 84-69 lead early in the fourth quarter. Nowitzki was 7 of 13 from the field two nights after he hit his first game-winning shot at the buzzer since 2009 to beat the Knicks in New York and finish a 3-0 trip through the Eastern Conference. The big German led the Mavericks with eight points in the third quarter, when they took their first double-digit lead. Dallas put away its 10th win in 12 games with a 15-2 run to start the fourth. "Weve done better over the last couple of weeks," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "But weve got a long way to go." NOTES: New Orleans C Alexis Ajinca had 14 points and eight rebounds in his first game after setting career highs with 19 points and 12 rebounds in loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. ... Ellis led the Mavericks with eight points in the second quarter, when they turned an eight-point deficit into an eight-point lead before settling for a six-point edge at halftime. . Aguero, who has 26 goals this season as City has soared to the top of the English Premier League with rampant displays of attacking football, is expected to sit out the first leg of the Champions League last-16 match against Barcelona as well as Premier League and FA Cup games against Chelsea. . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. .cas Heisman Watch, Johnny Football took advantage of Marcus Mariotas bye week out west to separate himself from the pack a little with a monster performance in Week 10, albeit against a weak opponent.NEW ORLEANS -- Nothing like nighttime in New Orleans to inspire a memorable performance from Drew Brees and the Saints. Playing Dallas beleaguered defence didnt hurt, either. Brees completed 34 of 41 passes for 392 yards and four touchdowns, and the Saints beat the Cowboys 49-17 on Sunday night. The Saints (7-2) had an NFL-record 40 first downs and a franchise-record 625 total yards in their 12th straight prime-time victory in the Superdome. New Orleans had 242 yards rushing, its highest total since 1990. "Spreading the ball around, getting everybody involved -- these are the days you love to have," Brees said. "You strive for efficiency both in the run and the pass game. We had that today." Brees touchdown passes went for 52 yards to Kenny Stills, 22 yards to Marques Colston, 28 yards to Darren Sproles and a yard to Pierre Thomas. Sproles also had a 3-yard touchdown run, and Mark Ingram added a 4-yard scoring run en route to a career-high 145 yards rushing on 14 carries. "We just wanted to come out here on a national stage and just prove to everybody that we could play smash-mouth football and run the ball," Ingram said. "Ive been waiting for a 100-yard game since I got in the league. ... The line just did a great job, just a fantastic job. They were just getting a hat on a hat, creating seams for us to run through. When theyre dominating the line of scrimmage like that it makes our job easy." Brees described Ingram as "a man on a mission," and it came at a good time. The Saints had lost two of their previous three and needed a victory to stay a game ahead of Carolina for first place in the NFC South. DeMarco Murray had 89 yards rushing and a touchdown on 16 carries for Dallas (5-5), highlighted by his 35-yard scamper on a fake reverse. That set up his 7-yard scoring run that gave the Cowboys a short-lived 10-7 lead early in the second quarter. Dallas did not score again until Tony Romos 21-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Williams in the last minute of the third quarter. The loss dropped Dallas into a tie with Philadelphia atop the NFC East. Dallas was frustrated offensively for much of the game against a defence that has turned around dramatically under co-ordinator Rob Ryan, fired by the Cowboys after last season. Star receiver Dez Bryant, covered mostly by Keenan Lewis, did not have his first and only catch -- a 44-yarder -- until late in the third quarter. . Jason Witten was held to two catches for 27 yards. Romo was 10 of 24 for 128 yards and was sacked three times. "We have to play better football than this in all facets," Romo said. "We have to figure out what we can do to be a better football team because that obviously was not good enough. It was just difficult. They are a good team. Give them credit. They beat us today. It wasnt a fun game." The Cowboys porous pass defence entered the game already having set an NFL record by allowing four quarterbacks to throw for more than 400 yards. Brees was on track to become the fifth, but fell just short after the Saints decided to stop throwing with a big lead in the fourth quarter. At one point, Brees strung together 19 straight completions, tying his personal best and franchise record. Making matters worse for Dallas was a hamstring injury to linebacker Sean Lee, the Cowboys leading tackler. "There just were very few plays that we stopped. They were able to go to a lot of different things," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "They ran the ball when they wanted to run it and Drew Brees did a fantastic job reading coverages and finding the right guy." Sproles, whose concussion a week earlier forced him to miss most of the Saints 26-20 road loss to the New York Jets, caught seven passes for 76 yards. Getting Colston involved was another encouraging sign for the Saints a week after the veteran receiver sat out against the Jets with a knee injury. Colston had seven catches for 107 yards. His touchdown grab was the 60th of his career, all from Brees. On Colstons touchdown, Sproles made a key block on blitzing linebacker Barry Church, giving Brees enough time to throw over the middle. Colston then slipped safety Jeff Heaths tackle before diving across the goal line. NOTES: The Saints broke the first downs record of 39 for a regulation game set by the Jets against Miami on Nov. 27, 1988. ... Saints TE Benjamin Watson left the game with a concussion after his head slammed to the turf on a near touchdown catch. ... S Kenny Vaccaro left the game in the second half, but the Saints did not update his condition. ... Cowboys LB Justin Durant left with a hamstring pull and DE DeMarcus Ware said he re-aggravated a quadriceps injury that sidelined him the previous three games. ' ' '
