Inland Waterways » even with their playoff fate on

DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks cant seem to turn comfortable leads into easy wins, even with their playoff fate on the line against teams going nowhere. They avoided what would have been a damaging letdown against Sacramento on Saturday night. Nowitzki scored 19 points, including eight in the fourth quarter when the Mavericks wiped out a five-point deficit after leading by 17 in the first half and held on to beat the Kings 103-100. "Its unfortunate its been part of our DNA, and I just feel like were going to snap out of it," said coach Rick Carlisle, whose team has lost six games after leading by at least 16 points this season. "And I know we have to. So Im a very positive thinker on this." The Mavericks beat Sacramento at home for the 20th straight time in the regular season, the longest against any opponent in franchise history. Dallas (44-30) is in a virtual tie with Memphis (43-29) for eighth place in the Western Conference, a half-game behind Phoenix. The Mavericks have eight games left and finish the regular season at the Grizzlies. Rudy Gay scored 30 for the Kings. Monta Ellis had 17 points and six assists and Sam Dalembert added 15 as Dallas avoided a second loss to a West also-ran on a franchise-record eight-game homestand that ends Tuesday night against Golden State, the fourth likely playoff-bound opponent in five games. "Weve got to push it," Dalembert said. "We have to go out every night and fight, try to get anything we can get and see if we can get that second chance." The Kings were up 89-84 after a jumper from Jason Thompson when Jose Calderon started a 10-0 run with a 3-pointer and Nowitzki hit a pair of free throws for a tie. Shawn Marion made two more free throws to put Dallas back in front, then knocked down a 3-pointer from the right corner for a 94-89 lead. Marion finished with 14 points. Sacramento had a chance to tie in the final seconds after Ellis missed two free throws, but Travis Outlaws 3-pointer was short just before the buzzer. "We played a lot harder, a lot more physical, in the second half," Sacramento coach Michael Malone said. "But we dont want to be having to get down by 17 to do it." Gay, who had 35 points in another close loss at the Mavericks in January, led Sacramentos push for its first regular-season win in Dallas since Feb. 27, 2003. The Kings won a playoff game in Dallas in 2004 when they eliminated the Mavericks in five games in the first round. Gay tipped in his own miss for the Kings first lead at 81-80 with 7:26 remaining in the game and muscled in a bucket after Ray McCallum missed a layup. Gay also had seven rebounds. With Kings point guard Isaiah Thomas missing his third straight game with a right thigh contusion, McCallum became the first NBA player this season to go the full 48 minutes. He has played six straight quarters over two nights after going the entire second half of a loss at Oklahoma City. McCallum, who had 16 points and eight assists, was briefly the only guard available when fellow rookie Ben McLemore left with what he said was a mild knee injury in the third quarter before returning in the fourth. "I felt fine the whole entire game," said McCallum, who has averaged 45 minutes per game in his three career starts with Thomas sidelined. "I knew with Isaiah being out, I would play more. I took a challenge to keep the team in the game and run the offence." McLemore had ice on both knees and his left shoulder after the game, but said he was fine. Nowitzki led the Mavericks with seven rebounds and tied Calderon for the team lead with seven assists. Reggie Evans had a season-high 18 rebounds for Sacramento, and DeMarcus Cousins finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists despite sitting most of the third quarter with four fouls. NOTES: Kings coach Michael Malone said Thomas might play Monday at New Orleans. ... Kings F Jason Thompson got a technical for complaining about a foul called against him on a three-point play by Marion. It contributed to a seven-point spurt in just 26 seconds that gave Dallas a 50-33 lead late in the first half. ... Ellis has been willing to take charges all season, never better illustrated that early in the third quarter when the 6-foot-11, 270-pound Cousins dribbled the length of the floor before plowing through the 6-3, 185-pound Ellis under the basket. Blue Air Jordan 6 Retro . The deal will pay Hainsey $3 million for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons and $2.5 million in 2016-17. Wholesale Air Jordan 6 Retro . Osasunas Alvaro Cejudo drove the ball onto the crossbar in the fifth minute and his team squandered several long-range strikes before he was denied one-on-one by goalkeeper Jaime Jimenez in the 50th. http://www.cheapairjordan6retro.com/. -- Jonathan Vilmas season is over and his future on the football field is in doubt. Black Air Jordan 6 Retro . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Air Jordan 6 Retro Outlet . Or how his team has defended Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Or just about anything that has happened on the court in the first-round playoff series. Instead, Rivers and his players spent Saturday talking about how they would respond to an audio recording of a man identified as Clippers owner Donald Sterling telling his girlfriend not to bring black people to games.Friday will mark six months since Liverpool appointed Jurgen Klopp but the club find themselves down in ninth in the Premier League table. Even so, the German coach has provided enough glimpses to give supporters hope for next season, writes Adam Bate… Weve really developed in the last few months, Jurgen Klopp told Sky Sports. Thats how it is. Our game has changed.We have a lot of possession. We spend a lot of time in dangerous zones on the pitch. We create chances. We dont score enough goals and we concede too many goals, thats the truth. But weve become more and more stable. Given that Klopp was appointed in October and has since been expected to work with another managers players, stable is what Liverpool supporters will settle for this season - as long as it comes with the promise of improvement. There were further signs of that improvement in Saturdays 1-1 draw against Tottenham at Anfield.Of course, Mauricio Pochettinos Spurs side are seen as a template for just about every team in the Premier League right now. Certainly, Liverpool are looking to adopt a pressing game of their own under Klopp. That much was evident in the reverse fixture - Klopps first in charge of Liverpool - when the Reds became the first team to outrun Tottenham this term. Sprint stars Philippe Coutinho, Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana each made more than 70 sprints against Tottenham on Saturday. In running more than 115 kilometres at Anfield on Saturday, Klopps team have also become the first to manage that feat both home and away this year. The players produced 600 sprints to Spurs 539 too, but pressing is far more than mere running. Its an organised and coherent tactic in order to control the game and disrupt the opponent.Naturally, that requires time on the training ground - something Klopp has been denied due to the cycle of matches and recovery that Liverpool have endured. In reaching the final of the Capital One Cup and playing more games in Europe than any other English team, there have been a barely believable 18 midweek games for Klopps men since his October arrival. Philippe Coutinho opened the scoring for Liverpool against Tottenham It is telling that while Stoke boss Mark Hughes is typical of club managers in bemoaning the international break and its effect on his players, Klopp welcomed it. Most of them played only one game so we are something like refreshed, he said. Usually the international break is not too nice but today its not a problem. So now we are back and recharged.We saw some evidence of the pressing against Tottenham - the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana forcing the visitors into errors in their own half on a regular basis. Unfortunately, despite Klopps insistence that his players are fresh, they are playing in patches and struggling to press home the advantage in games. Reds fading? Liverpool have surrendered 17 points from winning positions this season. Harry Kanes equaliser means Liverpool have now dropped more points - 17 of them - from winning positions than any other team in the Premier League. In the previous game, a 3-2 defeat at Southampton, his side squandered a two-goal lead. Its clear that this is little more than a work in progress for now.That point is further highlighted by the fact that Klopp has picked up fewer points from his 22 Premier League games than Rodgers diid in his final 22 games at the helm.dddddddddddd Liverpool are a team still failing to take their chances. Only Tottenham and Manchester City have had as many shots as them this season, and yet they are only the divisions eighth-highest scorers. Premier League 2015/16 Team Shots Tottenham 548 Man City 533 Liverpool 481 Arsenal 468 We have to be ruthless and take chances, Reds midfielder James Milner said afterwards. Were getting the style the manager wants but we have not got the consistency. Whats helped Klopp is that the squads best moments have come in big games. They have beaten Leicester, Manchester City and Manchester United at Anfield since Christmas.There can be seen as pointers to the potential of Klopps methods. Hes improved Dejan Lovren and improved Emre Can, said Jamie Carragher. I think hes improved Lallana too. The ex-Liverpool defender is among those insisting that Klopp can only be properly judged once hes had a pre-season and a summer transfer window in which to mould the side. Jurgen Klopp says his Liverpool side are learning to become winners To be a winner, you have to learn, insisted Klopp afterwards. You get a few knocks - we have had a few this season - but we are on the right track. If you only look at results you will say something is wrong, but there is not a lot wrong, we can build on this.For now, hints and glimpses are what we are dealing in. If Klopp can get Liverpool to produce some more of them against the club at which he made his name, Borussia Dortmund, in Thursdays Europa League quarter-final first-leg, then the current optimism could develop into something rather more significant than stable next season. 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