Dein erstes Forum » ey really earned it." Follow Stephen

DALLAS -- Monta Ellis scored 26 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 21 and the Dallas Mavericks pulled away from the Denver Nuggets in the fourth quarter of a 122-106 victory Friday night. The Mavericks avoided a season sweep by the Nuggets, who ran away with a win in Denver two weeks ago to hand Dallas its longest losing streak at three games. Dallas (42-28) got a boost in the playoff race when Miami rallied from seven down in the last 3 1/2 minutes to beat Memphis 91-86 Friday night. The Mavericks and Grizzlies (40-28) started the day in a virtual tie for the final post-season spot in the Western Conference. Vince Carter shook off a dislocated pinkie on his left hand in the first quarter to finish with 13. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 18 points and eight rebounds before leaving with an apparent injury in the fourth quarter. Ty Lawson had 17 points and nine assists after missing a game with a sinus infection, and Randy Foye scored 15, all on 3-pointers. The Mavericks led by 15 early in the fourth quarter but couldnt put the Nuggets away until late. Denver was within 99-96 after a 3-pointer and dunk from Dallas native Darrell Arthur, who had nine of his 11 points in the second half. But Nowitzki hit back-to-back fadeaway jumpers and Brandan Wright and Shawn Marion took turns feeding each other for baskets, the last one Marions dunk for a 109-99 lead with 4 minutes to go. Wright, a 6-foot-10 centre, had all three of his assists in a 4-minute stretch of the fourth quarter and finished with 13 points. Marion scored 14 as the Mavericks had seven players in double figures. Ellis, who scored 12 straight Dallas points to force overtime in a loss to Minnesota on Wednesday, ran off eight straight to put the Nuggets away and clinch a winning season after a 12-year run of winning records ended with a 41-41 mark last season. Ellis was 11-of-14 shooting and had seven assists. Hickson helped keep Denver close with 10 second-half points and was four shy of his season high against the Mavericks in November before going out. The Mavericks avoided the slow starts that plagued them the last time they played Denver and in an overtime loss to Minnesota, another West also-ran, in their last game. Jae Crowder really got Dallas going in the second quarter, going 4 of 4 from 3-point range, including three straight Dallas baskets that put the Mavericks up 50-36. Averaging 4.7 points per game coming in, Crowder led Dallas in the first half with 12 points but didnt attempt another shot. NOTES: The teams combined to go 25 of 52 from 3-point range. The Nuggets had 13 from long range and the Mavericks had 12. The season high is 12 for both teams. ... Nuggets C Kenneth Faried got a technical in the third quarter after colliding with Jose Calderon and knocking the Dallas guard to the floor. ... The Nuggets swept the season series with Dallas in 2008-09 and won four straight over the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. ... The Mavericks recalled G Gal Mekel from the Texas Legends of the D-League. Hes played 31 games for Dallas and four games for the affiliate. The 26-year-old rookie from Israel missed nearly two months with a knee injury. Cheap Air Max Plus Wholesale . has left the San Jose Sharks to become the Boston Bruins director of player personnel. Air Max Plus Ireland .ca NHL Power Rankings, ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks. Moving up, from 10 to seven this week, the Pittsburgh Penguins have won seven straight despite a depleted lineup. http://www.cheapairmaxplusireland.com/.com) - Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was named the National League Player of the Month for April. Cheap Air Max Plus Ireland . Down 2-1 after Rick Nash scored on a penalty shot, the Oilers ran off four unanswered goals in the remainder of the second period on the way to a 6-3 victory on Sunday. Air Max Plus Ireland Cheap . "I met her, I think, a week ago. We went to a Norwood hockey store and picked her out some gear.TORONTO -- James Reimer wanted to keep things simple. It had been a while since he started a game for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and his return came against Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the potent Pittsburgh Penguins. "Maybe there was some circumstances surrounding the game, but honestly I didnt really pay much attention to them or think about them much," Reimer said. "It was just the Toronto Maple Leafs playing the Pittsburgh Penguins, and I was trying to get in the way of pucks." Reimer got in the way of a lot of pucks Saturday night as he was the backbone of the Leafs 4-1 victory over the Penguins at Air Canada Centre. The 26-year-old made 37 saves to give Nazem Kadri the chance to score the game winner, and many of his stops came when the majority of the action was in the Leafs zone. "You dont win in this league without goaltending that gives you a chance, and Reims gives us a chance," coach Randy Carlyle said. Reimer hadnt started since Oct. 17 when he left 32 seconds into Torontos game against the Carolina Hurricanes after a collision with winger Josh Leivo. The long layoff didnt bother him. "I felt normal right from the get-go," Reimer said. "I didnt feel any uneasiness or uncertainty, really. The puck dropped, and I was ready to stop it." Reimer gave up a power-play goal to Kris Letang, the Penguins defencemans first of the season, 6:52 in but shut the door from there. One of his more memorable saves came on Malkin a few minutes later, and Dave Bolland went right down the ice and tied it up for the Leafs shorthanded. But Reimer was really tested in the second period when the Penguins turned up the heat on him and outshot the Leafs 16-4. He made a couple of stops on two-on-one rushes, denied Crosby of a one-timer goal at the side of the net and flashed his glove against Matt DAgostini to the delight of many of the 19,539 fans in attendance. "I thought he was outstanding," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. "There was flurries and pucks around his net he was strong on. ... He certainly was the difference in the second period." Had Reimer cracked even once, the Penguins mightve been able to ride some momentum and cruise past the Leafs. Instead, Toronto still had hope at the second intermission. "I think thats been the story of our season, for the most part," said James van Riemsdyk, who assisted on Kadris goal and Phil Kessels later in the third. "Theres been stretches where we get outshot, but our goaltending is making big saves for us. Theyve gave us a chance allmost every night.dddddddddddd Thats all you can ask for out of your goalies." All Reimer and Jonathan Bernier seemingly need is a little goal support. Reimer got it Saturday night in the form of a strong third period led by the new-look first line. Kadri replaced Tyler Bozak between van Riemsdyk and Kessel, and Carlyle said after the victory that Bozak would miss at least 7-10 days with a lower-body injury. Kadri beat Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury 1:26 into the third after smart passes from van Riemsdyk and Kessel but took more pride in stopping Malkins line. "Were all on the same page offensively. It was great," Kadri said. "Its not just the offensive side of things, we took care of the D-zone. We were able to shut down a few of their key players." Bolland, David Clarkson and Mason Raymond also did a good job against Crosby, Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz. Malkin finished the night with a minus-3 rating, while Crosby was a minus-2. As much credit as captain Dion Phaneuf and those forwards got for their defensive play, it eventually came down to Reimer, who didnt fold under a lot of pressure. "James played great. Both tenders all season have been unbelievable," Clarkson said. "Its always good when you can have that confidence in your goaltending. No matter who goes in net there we have confidence that if were getting outshot or outplayed, then we know what we can do." Reimer frustrated the Penguins all night and improved to 4-0-2 in his career against Pittsburgh. But he wasnt crowing about that success. "They have arguably the best players in the world, and they bring it every time they come and play," Reimer said. "Im just lucky enough to have teammates step up and play big games. I dont know if it has much to do with me more than the guys in front of me working their butts off. Again tonight I thought they worked as hard as they could, and they really earned it." Follow Stephen Whyno on Twitter at (at)SWhyno NOTES -- A CT scan revealed Leafs winger Joffrey Lupul did not have a fracture in his right foot and he will travel with the team on their Western Canadian road trip, according to Carlyle. The team hopes Lupul, who has missed two games after taking a shot off the foot in practice Thursday, will be able to play Tuesday at the Edmonton Oilers. ... Penguins defenceman Rob Scuderi left the game with a lower-body injury late in the first period after taking a hit from Clarkson along the boards. Bylsma did not have an update, saying only that Scuderi would be re-evaluated Sunday. ' ' '