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DALLAS -- The Monta Ellis-Dirk Nowitzki tag team looked strong on opening night. Melvin Gordon III Jersey . Ellis started his Dallas career with 32 points, Nowitzki scored 24 and the Mavericks spoiled Mike Budenholzers coaching debut with a 118-109 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night. The Mavericks went 7 of 8 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter to pull away, including two in a row from Nowitzki followed by one from Ellis for a 118-102 lead with 1:18 remaining. "The way he played in the second half was fantastic," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said of Ellis, who was an elite scorer at Golden State before his shooting percentages dropped off the past two seasons. "He played a terrific game. Dirk played a terrific game as well." Jeff Teague led Atlanta with 24 in Budenholzers first game, which came against a familiar opponent since he was a longtime assistant to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. "Give Dallas a lot of credit," Budenholzer said. "They played really well for long stretches. A lot longer than our stretches." Ellis, who signed a three-year deal as a free agent, joined the Mavericks with questions about his efficiency on offence. He answered those concerns for one night at least, going 11 of 17 from the field with eight assists. The only downside was seven turnovers, and Dallas had 20 as a team. "Coach showed me some clips about how teams were playing me," Ellis said. "When I would get in the lane, I was more looking for a pass. I wanted to be one, two dribbles and put it up. Then if they played me, I could cross over and get the ball to somebody else." Nowitzki finished 8 of 14, including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc, after missing last years opener and the next 26 games following right knee surgery. The early moments of the second half offered a glimpse of how these two scorers will feed off each other. Nowitzki opened the scoring with a jumper off an assist from Ellis in the pick-and-roll, then Ellis came around a Nowitzki pick for a 20-footer. The next Dallas bucket was a jumper from Ellis, with an assist from Nowitzki. "Monta is sensational in those pick-and-rolls coming off looking aggressive to score or if he doesnt have it hes finding the open shooters and that was fantastic," Nowitzki said. The Mavericks opened with a win over an Eastern Conference playoff qualifier from last season after they missed the post-season in the West for the first time since Nowitzkis second season in 2000. Until Nowitzki and Ellis put it away, the Hawks stayed close in their first game without Josh Smith, who went to Detroit in free agency. Teague had nine assists, and Paul Millsap finished with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting operating inside. DeMarre Carroll had 14, and Al Horford scored 11. "We played hard and competed," Teague said. "We were getting used to each other. Weve got some time to do that." Jose Calderon, Ellis new backcourt mate and another of the nine new faces in Dallas, struggled offensively until the fourth quarter, when his first field goal was a 3-pointer that answered one on the other end by Carroll to put Dallas up 107-97. Calderon had five points and a game-high 11 assists, including one on an alley-oop dunk by Vince Carter that started a 17-2 run to put Dallas ahead 84-72 late in the third quarter. Carter, who had 21 points, added a 3-pointer from several feet behind the arc later in the run to extend his streak to 26 games with at least one from long range dating to last season. Cartier Martin, who had 17 points, hit a 3-pointer to pull Atlanta within 84-76 going in the fourth quarter. The Hawks got as close as three early in the fourth, but Nowitzki hit a 3-pointer and Ellis answered a bucket by Millsap to start 7-0 run that put the Mavericks up 99-88. Nowitzki looked comfortable right away, making his first three shots and getting a couple of assists early before finishing the first half with 13 points. Drue Tranquill Youth Jersey .Brooks, a three-year veteran, was slow to get up after suffering the injury during a 5-yard run by Arian Foster.Brooks limped off the field midway through the quarter and then slowly walked to the locker room a few minutes later. Mike Williams Chargers Jersey . The closer wasnt available. The road trip, a disaster to that point. http://www.chargersauthenticofficialonline.com/authentic-jerry-tillery-jersey.html . Jeff Carter had two goals and an assist as the Kings stretched their streak to seven wins in a row with a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.I keep a folder on my computer entitled Crimes Against Defending. In this folder, I collect examples of poor defensive play, poor marking from set pieces and any other offence against the art of defending. Yes, good defending is an art form - and it is on the verge of becoming extinct. Every weekend – regardless of what league or international fixture I watch – I see more and more examples of awful defending that leave me shaking my head in disbelief. Some of the best players in the world, both male and female, are committing defensive errors that would give a U14 coach a heart attack. The first example came in the German women’s 3-0 win over England at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. After England made a bright start to the game, rattling a shot off the German crossbar in the opening minute, they were forced to defend a German corner kick. England’s defensive set up was baffling, to say the least. Time and time again – even at the highest levels of the game – I continue to see teams setting up to defend corner kicks without putting defensive players on either post. I cannot understand the logic of this approach, and in the case of England, it led to them conceding the first goal of the game. The German corner kick was delivered into the perfect area; head height, level with the six-yard box and the first post. This position is ideal because the goalkeeper cannot come out to challenge the cross and a header from this distance is very difficult for the goalkeeper to save. If the header is good, she can only reasonably be expected to make a reaction save within four feet either side of her set position. England’s decision not to put a player on either post meant that Karen Bardsley, England’s goalkeeper, had to defend the entire 24-foot width of her goal on her own – against a header from six yards out. The red shaded area in the picture below just highlights what a difficult task this is for Bardsley. (Click here for enlarged photo) In training, if uncontested crosses were whipped into this area for attackers to head home, goallkeepers the world over would be furious. Nasir Adderley Jersey. They would be conceding goal after goal without much hope of making a save. In this example, the ball actually came off of England defender Alex Scott’s head before nestling into the bottom right corner of England’s goal – exactly the position where a defender should have been. Had there been a defender there, it would have only required a side-foot clearance and the goal would have been saved. How this would have affected the eventual outcome of the game is impossible to say – Germany were clinical and full value for their 3-0 win – but to concede a goal that early in a game against one of the best teams in the world is a recipe for disaster. One positive to come out of the game for England was that it was watched by a crowd of over 45,000 - a fantastic turnout for a women’s friendly. Another example that went into my Crimes Against Defending folder this weekend came in Crystal Palace’s 3-1 win over Liverpool. When did defending corner kicks become about turning your back on the ball and wrapping your arms around the attacker, rather than about heading the ball away from danger? Look at the foul being committed by Crystal Palace’s Brede Hangeland on Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel, pictured below: (Click here for enlarged photo) If this sort of defending occurred anywhere else on the pitch, it would immediately be called for a foul. Yet referees everywhere allow this to go unpunished in the penalty area. The only way to remedy this type of defending is for referees to award a penalty kick for this type of foul. A strong argument can be made that Hangeland is denying Skrtel an obvious goal-scoring opportunity – it is a header from eight yards out, after all. On the evidence of what I’m seeing every weekend, defending isn’t being taught to young players anymore, let alone to professional players. Awarding a penalty kick for clutching and grabbing in the penalty area will force players to do what they are supposed to do – play the ball rather than the man. ' ' '