by ldh2013 » Thu Jun 30, 2016 8:32 am
Miami, FL (SportsNetwork. .com) - The Dallas Mavericks made three shots in the first quarter, scored 33 points in the first half and beat the Miami Heat by 21. How? With a 39-3 run. Charlie Villanueva scored 20 points and the Mavericks held the Heat to just three points over a nearly 14-minute span in the third and fourth quarters on the way to a 93-72 win on Friday night. Miamis stale finish -- which came after Dallas started the game ice-cold from the field -- tempered what was a career night for Hassan Whiteside, who set a franchise record with 14 rebounds in the first quarter. The 7-foot center ended with 16 points and a career-high 24 rebounds for the Heat, who were without Dwyane Wade because of a hamstring strain the All-Star guard suffered Tuesday against Milwaukee, which could sideline him for weeks. James Ennis added 15 points off the bench, All-Star Chris Bosh scored 12 and Mario Chalmers had 10 in Miamis fourth loss in six games. The Mavericks snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Heat in the regular season that spanned their win over Miami in the 2011 NBA Finals. They also stopped a four-game overall losing streak -- their longest in two years. .J. Watt is a unanimous selection as The Associated Press NFL Defensive Player Of The Year for 2014. . The top-seeded Anaheim Ducks can clearly see they are in quite a fight now. Eakin scored on Dallas first shot of the third period, Alex Goligoski scored on the next one 1:22 later and the Stars beat the Ducks 4-2 in Game 4 on Wednesday night to even the best-of-seven series. . Barnhart penalized Castroneves for passing while under a yellow flag, a ruling that dropped the Team Penske driver from seventh place to 22nd. In a post on his Twitter page, Castroneves said he was "very disappointed for finishing seventh and being put to 22nd," adding.NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Titans squandered a golden opportunity to turn up the heat on the Indianapolis Colts in the race for the AFC South crown. Mike Munchaks club will get another chance starting Thursday in Music City when the two clubs meet in the first of two matchups over the next three weeks. The sequel is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 1 at Indianapolis. The 6-3 Colts currently hold a two-game edge over Tennessee in the division and if the Titans are going to make a move they will have to do it knowing that starting quarterback Jake Locker is lost for the season due to a Lisfranc injury. Locker suffered the problematic injury in his right foot during Sundays 29-27 loss to the previously winless Jaguars after taking a hard hit during the second quarter. "I dont know exactly how it happened, but when I got up from that run I could feel it," Locker said. "Its tough. You want to be on the football field with your teammates." The oft-injured Locker had thrown for 1,256 yards and eight touchdowns this season while completing 60.7 percent of his passes. He also ran for 155 yards with a pair of scores despite missing two games in October with a hip injury suffered in a Sept. 29 win over the Jets. Veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick took over at quarterback against the Jags and completed 22-of-33 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns. The veteran has thrown 96 touchdowns in his career, and is expected to start for Tennessee for the remainder of the season with the unproven Rusty Smith backing him up. "Were just concentrating on these seven weeks," Munchak said. "Thats all were concerned about. Next year is next year. Right now we just got to go forward and try to win a game." Sloppy play cost the Titans against Jacksonville in a setback tight end Delanie Walker called "disgusting." Tennessee was unable to overcome four turnovers, including two by Locker before he left. Although they fared better than the Jaguars in total yards (362 to 214), first downs (19 to 13) and third down conversions (56 percent to 25 percent), the Titans lost three fumbles and threw an interception, leading to 17 of the Jaguars points. Jacksonville also scored two points on a safety. Chris Johnson fumbled on Tennessees first play from scrimmage when Jags LB Paul Posluszny stripped him and as he hit the ground and recovered the miscue, leading to a Maurice Jones-Drew 6-yard touchdown run. . Locker was also intercepted and fumbled as the Titans lost for the fourth time in five games. "The roles were reversed. We looked like an 0-8 team. We deserved to lose," said Titans safety Bernard Pollard. "To lose to a team like this, the way we did, we had countless self-inflicted wounds," added linebacker Colin McCarthy. Indianapolis hardly comes in burgeoning with confidence either after St. Louis rookie Tavon Austin scorched the club with three long TDs last Sunday in an emphatic 38-8 Rams win. The dynamic Austin, who came into Sundays game with just two touchdowns, returned a punt 98 yards for a score and caught TD passes of 57 and 81 yards. The rookie wide receiver became the third player in NFL history with three touchdowns of 55 yards or longer in a single game, joining Cliff Battles and Chris Johnson. "I knew the day was going to come," Austin said. "It was just me being patient and me being true to myself and to keep working. Im just glad that I had an opportunity." Andrew Luck connected on 29-of-47 passes for a career-high 353 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions for the Colts, who maintained that two-game gap over the Titans despite their worst performance of the season. Donald Brown caught five passes for 64 yards and a touchdown for Indianapolis, which suffered its biggest home defeat since losing 31-0 to Chargers in 1993. "Certainly were not going to bury our head in the sand on this past ball game," Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. "Well address the issues like we always address them. We know there are things that need to be fixed and well go to work on fixing those things." The Colts have won three consecutive games against the Titans and eight of the last nine in the series, which marks its 38th all-time installment this week. The last time the Titans, who are 14-23 all-time versus Indy, got the better of the Colts was Oct. 30, 2011 at LP Field (27-10). ' ' '
