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DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki is an All-Star again, and the big German is playing like he did when he went to 11 straight midseason showcases. Nowitzki scored 34 points and the Dallas Mavericks held off Sacramento 107-103 Friday night, handing the Kings their sixth straight loss in another game without leading scorer DeMarcus Cousins. The 35-year-old had his second straight 30-point game for the first time in nearly two years and helped the Mavericks rally in the fourth quarter after they squandered a double-digit lead in the first half and fell behind by 14 in the third. "Ive been in a good groove," said Nowitzki, who was named an All-Star reserve Thursday after his long streak of appearances ended last season when he missed the first 27 games after knee surgery. "Before the last three, I didnt really have a good groove." Rudy Gay scored 35 to lead the Kings, who have the worst record in the Western Conference at 15-31 and were without Cousins for the fifth straight game because of a sprained left ankle. He is likely to miss his sixth straight in San Antonio on Saturday night. "We have to learn how to be a winning team," said Gay, who had 18 at halftime by making all six shots from the field and 6 of 7 free throws. "We just have to play a whole solid game. Thats what we need to do for us to get off that slide were on right now." Nowitzki backed up his 12th All-Star nod while Cousins had to sit out a chance to show he belonged in the Feb. 16 game. The fourth-year centre is in the top 10 in the league in scoring and rebounding. "Theres always guys that deserve it," said Nowitzki, whos in his 16th season. "Maybe this is my last hurrah." Brandan Wright had his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, including a floater in the lane that put the Mavericks ahead for good at 96-94. Dallas was up 102-100 after a bucket by Gay with 24 seconds left. But the Kings didnt foul right away, and Vince Carter found Monta Ellis underneath for a three-point play. Sacramento was still within two after a 3-pointer by Marcus Thornton, but Ellis made a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game with 4.6 seconds left. Ellis was in his worst three-game scoring slump of the season and didnt have a point most of the first half before getting 11 in the fourth quarter and finishing with 20. "It was one of those nights where he could have easily gotten frustrated, but he didnt," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "He just kept playing the whole game and it came around." The Mavericks, who couldnt hold a double-digit lead in the first half, went back in front with a 9-0 run capped by a pair of free throws from Nowitzki for an 89-87 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Kings matched their longest skid of the season despite starting the second half with a 17-3 run that included consecutive 3-pointers from Isaiah Thomas, who scored 13 in the third quarter but was held to two points on 1-of-7 shooting in the fourth. Thomas finished with 19, but he and Gay were the only double-figure scorers for the Kings. "Im frustrated with myself because my shots not falling," Thomas said. "DeMarcus makes things a lot easier for me. Hopefully he gets back soon." Sacramentos lead grew to 14 on a layup by Aaron Gray before the Mavericks finished the third on an 11-3 run highlighted by Ellis steal and breakaway dunk that got the deficit back under 10 at 78-70. The Mavericks played without Shawn Marion, who has lingering soreness from shoulder and ribs injuries sustained in early January. He missed the first four games after getting injured. NOTES: Dallas Jose Calderon and Thomas were called for a double technical when Calderon went to the floor away from the ball after making contact with Thomas. Calderon got up yelling at Thomas and kept going after a whistle stopped play, leading to the technical. The pair had a friendly halftime chat mediated by referee Tony Brothers. ... Nowitzki had his third career game of at least 38 points and 17 rebounds in Wednesdays loss to Houston. The Mavericks won the other two. ... The Mavericks recalled G Ricky Ledo from the NBA Development League before the game and sent him back down afterward. Wholesale Kobe Bryant Shoes .? It was his second straight start for the Jets; he suffered a 1-0 loss against Minnesota Monday. So this season Hutchinson has now won games in the ECHL, AHL and NHL. He was perfect three- for-three in the shootout to nail down the win. Cheap Kobe Bryant Shoes .com) - On a night the Bulls played without Derrick Rose, it was time for Pau Gasol to take charge. https://www.cheapkobebryantshoes.com/.Y. - The New York Islanders are brimming with confidence these days, thanks to a standout goalie and a newfound winning attitude. Kobe Bryant Shoes From China . They find themselves trying to knock each other out in the Western Conference finals for the second straight year. The Blackhawks prevailed last year on their way to the Stanley Cup, and they have the early lead this time after taking the opener, 3-1. Clearance Kobe Bryant Shoes . HEROES P.K. Subban – Scored the overtime winner and assisted on Montreal’s earlier goal, both on the power play, in a 2-1 win over Nashville.WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Only two Syracuse teams have won their first 20 games, and C.J. Fair has been a member of both. This current one, he says, is "a hard-fought 20-game winning streak." Not much came easy during the Oranges latest victory. No. 2 Syracuse matched the best start in program history Wednesday night, pulling away to beat Wake Forest 67-57 behind a strong second half from freshman Tyler Ennis. Ennis scored 16 of his 18 points after halftime and Fair finished with 16 points for the Orange (20-0, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), while Trevor Cooney scored all eight of his in the final 1:45. Syracuse remained one of three unbeaten teams in Division I with No. 1 Arizona, which beat Stanford 60-57 on Wednesday, and No. 4 Wichita State. The Orange pulled away late while sidestepping a possible trap with a visit from No. 17 Duke coming up this weekend, and joined the 2011-12 group as the only Orange teams to start 20-0. "Weve got a long stretch ahead of us," Fair said. In their first visit to Tobacco Road as ACC members, they had to work for it against a Wake Forest team that had been perfect at home and tough on visitors in the top five. "It was just one of those games youre just trying to struggle through defensively, and we did just a good enough job defensively to be able to get the win," coach Jim Boeheim said. "You have to find a way to win these games, and this team has been able to do that." Travis McKie scored 12 points for the Demon Deacons (14-7, 4-4), and his free throw with 4:10 left pulled them to 54-49. But while Wake Forest came up empty on its next two trips down court, Cooney caught fire. "We needed one of those timely 3s to go in," McKie said. "If we just wouldve got three more of those 3s to go in, wed be looking at a different outcome." The guard buried a fall-away jumper that he called "the toughest shot I had all day." He followed that with two free throws to give Syracuse its first double-figure lead and streaked down court for an open-court dunk after a steal by Fair to put the Orange up 62-50 with 1:19 left.dddddddddddd. "I heard C.J. say, Shoot it," Cooney said. "And no one needs to tell me to shoot it." By then, they could look ahead to hosting the Blue Devils at the Carrier Dome in one of the seasons most widely anticipated matchups. Devin Thomas scored 12 points for Wake Forest, which had won 13 straight at Joel Coliseum and had won three straight home games against top-five teams -- a run that included a rout of then-No. 2 Miami last season. Just about all of the Demon Deacons key stats suggested they would be blown out: They shot 34 per cent, were outrebounded 55-35, made just three of their 20 3-point attempts and were 18 of 30 from the free throw line. "Theyre long and athletic, so their zone is definitely a force to be reckoned with," McKie said. "We had great looks. We just didnt knock it down." But some of the Oranges numbers were equally poor -- they shot 36 per cent and were 22 of 33 from the free throw line -- and that allowed Wake Forest to stay within striking distance for much of the game. "For the most part, we did a good job on their shooters, and when they got an open look, they just didnt make it," Boeheim said. "Same as us." Joel Coliseum was buzzing when Wake Forest turned an eight-point deficit into a one-possession game in the span of a few seconds midway through the second half. Robert Morris transfer Coron Williams swished a 3-pointer before Madison Jones swiped the ball from Cooney and hit a quick layup to make it 40-37 with 12 1/2 minutes left. Ennis, who was 0 for 6 from the field in the first half, followed by reeling off eight points -- all on drives down or across the lane -- in about 4 minutes to give the Orange a bit of breathing room. His finger roll helped Syracuse match its largest lead to that point, 48-40, with about 8 1/2 minutes left. Jerami Grant finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Orange. ' ' '