Events (auf Funorb) » 1,453 career games over 10 seasons

SAN ANTONIO -- Blowing their playoff opener turned out to be great therapy for the Dallas Mavericks. Eighth-seeded Dallas rolled to a 113-92 victory over San Antonio on Wednesday night, snapping a 10-game skid against the Spurs and evening their first-round series at a game apiece. Dallas didnt relent in Game 2 after watching a 10-point lead evaporate in the final eight minutes of the series opener Sunday. "Game 1 actually helped a lot more than today," Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki said. "We were down after Game 1, but in this building to be up 10 with six or seven minutes left, I think that gave us a lot of confidence coming into this one. Just keep executing the game plan." It was Dallas first playoff victory since June 12, 2011, when it rebounded from an 0-2 deficit to defeat the Miami Heat for the NBA title. If not for the final eight minutes of the series opener, the Mavericks would have a 2-0 lead entering Game 3 on Saturday. "It feels great, but its nothing to celebrate," Dallas point guard Jose Calderon said. "I think we have to keep doing what were doing. I think we played two really good games." In Game 2, the Mavericks used an aggressive offence and a brutal defensive effort that discombobulated the normally even-keeled Spurs, who finished the regular season with the leagues best record. Monta Ellis scored 21 points, Shawn Marion added 20 points, Nowitzki had 16, Devin Harris had 18 and Calderon 12 for Dallas, which never trailed after the opening minutes of the second quarter. Manu Ginobili had 27 points, Tony Parker added 12 and Tim Duncan 11 for the Spurs, who did not have any other player score more than seven points. "They beat us in every aspect of the game," Ginobili said. "They played harder. Our defence was soft (and) not as aggressive as theirs. Not that I dont expect them to play hard. We know they are a tough team, but having such a poor performance in the playoffs bothers me." San Antonios ineptness had as much to do with tying the series as Dallas stellar play. The Spurs averaged 14.4 turnovers during the regular season, but had 15 with 3 minutes left in the first half. They finished with 24 turnovers, which resulted in 33 points for the Mavericks. "Just being very active," Ellis said. "Not put them on the free-throw line. Trust that the help was going to be there. We locked in to the game plan that we had. They made some careless turnovers. That was good for us." Dallas was extremely physical in the first half whenever Parker and Ginobili drove the lane. "NBA playoff games are physical," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "If you dont have the right kind of posture and disposition, youre going to knocked back on your heels and your butt and tonight we did a better job of hitting first in some of those instances." San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich was dismayed early when no fouls were called -- not that it mattered when they were. San Antonio finished 18 for 29 on free throws. "Its a bad combination to not play good defence at one end and give the ball up at the other end and not shoot free throws very well, either," Popovich said. "Thats a bad combination at both ends of the floor. That means you get your butt kicked and thats what happened tonight." Dallas also continued to crowd San Antonios 3-point shooters. Aside from Ginobilis 5-for-6 shooting, the Spurs were 5 for 14 long range after going 3 for 17 in the opener. "Its pretty frustrating," San Antonio wing Danny Green said. "Theyre doing a good job of getting, not just to me, but all our shooters; showing us a lot of respect. But weve got to find other ways to get it done. We cant rely on our Big Three to carry us every night. Got to find a way to get involved, push the pace offensively." The Mavericks attacked the basket with the same intensity, finishing with 44 points. San Antonio pulled within 61-56 with 8:38 remaining in the third quarter when Kawhi Leonard made two of three free throws, but it was the closest it would get in the second half. NOTES: Popovich received a standing ovation before the game after being recognized as the NBA Coach of the Year. Spurs owner Peter Holt presented Popovich with the Red Auerbach trophy, which he has won three times. ... After assigning Spurs nemesis Joey Crawford to officiate Game 1, the league had Danny Crawford on hand for Game 2 to the chagrin of the Mavericks fans. But just as in the opener, both officials reserved most calls and non-calls for the opposition. Crawfords lack of calls led Popovich to scream at Crawford throughout the first half. ... Academy Award-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones sat courtside beside Holt. ... Nowitzki was assessed a technical foul with 1:38 remaining in the first half after Ginobili was fouled by Marion on a 3-point attempt. Marion touched Ginobilis hip as he released the ball, but the Argentinian appeared to exaggerate the contact when he fell to the floor. ... After scrambling to capture a loose ball under the basket, Tiago Splitter flung an overhead, two-handed no-look pass to an open Ginobili for a 3-pointer with 4:44 remaining in the third quarter. Cheap Air Jordan Free Shipping . scored 18 of his career- high 28 points in the first half, as fifth-ranked Ohio State dominated No. Air Jordan Discount . The $145.7-million Tim Hortons Field was slated to open this month, a year before it was to host all 32 mens and womens soccer competitions. The delay has forced the Hamilton Tiger-Cats football team to use a smaller facility for the first two home games of the season. https://www.jordanchina.us/. 1. AMIR JOHNSON: Nice to see him back in the lineup Tuesday night in Washington DC. Played with great energy and purpose. Its amazing when a guy gets those few precious days to recover what it does to the bounce in their step and overall game/confidence. Clearance Air Jordan Store . Unlike last year when nobody got in, there have been estimates of as many as five getting voted in this time around and as few as one, Greg Maddux. Fake Jordan . - This is just the warm-up act for 18-year-old William Nylander.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Joe Nathan feels like the Texas Rangers have been playing elimination games for a week. Now they are down to the regular seasons scheduled finale, still with a chance to get into the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. A rain-drenched Nathan struck out Howie Kendrick with two runners on and the infield flooding to close out the Rangers sixth straight victory, and second in less than 24 hours. They beat the sloppy Los Angeles Angels 7-4 on Saturday. "It doesnt change what we need to do, we need to come in tomorrow and win a game," Nathan said. "We dont want to have to rely on somebody to help us all the time." Tampa Bay lost at Toronto on Saturday, dropping the Rays (90-71) into a tie with the Rangers. Cleveland (90-70) was playing at Minnesota in a game that started late because of rain. The Rangers were down three batters in, but the Angels made five errors for a game for the first time since Sept. 16, 2006, also at Texas. Shortstop Erick Aybar, right fielder Kole Calhoun, left fielder Collin Cowgill, pitcher Garrett Richards and third baseman Andrew Romine had the miscues. Texas got even with a gift run in the bottom of the first on a grounder through the legs of third baseman Romine. The Angels then made two more errors, and Richards (7-8) threw a wild pitch in the second when the Rangers went ahead for good with four runs -- three of them unearned. "You cant sugar-coat the way we played defence. It was just brutal. They were silly mistakes, and it cost us. Thats the story of this afternoon," manager Mike Scioscia said. "Texas made four errors in one inning and overcame it." The Rangers opened the series with that four-error inning and won on rookie Jurickson Profars game-ending homer. Nathan was the winner after pitching the ninth of that game and saved the last two. With 43 saves in 46 chances, Nathan said he is ready to go again if needed. If the Rangers win the final game Sunday, they will be guaranteed at least a wild-card tiebreaker. The 11:07 a.m. start was the earliest home game in the 42 seasons the Rangers have played in Texas -- the game was moved up eight hours because of the threat of bad weather. The game was played mostly under overcast skies, and there were quick showers while the Rangers batted in the first and fifth innings without any delays. It was a downpour after Nathan got two quick outs before Josh Hamilton had a pinch double and Mike Trout walked. "I was saying weve got to stop this game," Rangers manager Ron Washinggton said.dddddddddddd "The guys standing on the infield, if a ball is hit to them, I cant see them throwing it across the infield. But we didnt have to worry about that because Joe got him out. Nathan described it as "basically a lake out there." Joakim Soria (1-0) got his first major league victory since July 23, 2011, striking out two in 1 1-3 scoreless innings in relief of Derek Holland. Robbie Ross and Tanner Scheppers each worked a scoreless inning before Nathan took over. A two-time All-Star, Soria was recovering from elbow ligament surgery when he signed a two-year deal with the Rangers last off-season. The right-handers season debut July 7 was his first major league appearance in nearly two years. Aybar led off the game with the first of his three doubles, then scored the first of his three runs. He came home on sacrifice flies by Trout in the first and third innings. The Rangers got even at 1 when Alex Rios hit the grounder under Romine that sent home Ian Kinsler, who had a leadoff single. Craig Gentry, 15 for 33 the last nine games, had a leadoff double in the second before David Murphy walked and Leonys Martin had the first of his two sacrifice bunts. Kinsler hit a liner off the upper body of Richards, who grabbed the ball and looked the runner back to third before making an errant throw to first base that allowed a run. Rios had a sac fly and Elvis Andrus, who had singled, scored on a wild pitch that ricocheted only a few feet in front of the plate. The Angels closed to 5-4 in the fifth on doubles by Aybar and Kendrick that chased Holland. Rios, acquired from the Chicago White Sox after Texas slugger Nelson Cruz was suspended, had a leadoff double in the bottom of the fifth and scored on a single by A.J. Pierzynski, who came home on a safety squeeze bunt that the speedy Gentry turned into an infield hit. "We did the little things, we moved guys over, we were able to pick each other up and we played as a team," said Rios, who has played 1,453 career games over 10 seasons without getting into the playoffs. "When you do that, you have a pretty good chance to do well. Thats what weve been doing." NOTES: All nine Texas starters had hits. ... Yu Darvish (13-9, 2.82 ERA), the major league leader with 269 strikeouts, starts the finale for Texas. ... The previous earliest home start for the Rangers was two weeks ago, a 12:06 p.m. game vs. Oakland. ... Both teams wore red jerseys. ... Hamiltons 13-game hitting streak is his longest this season. ' ' '