Kunze-IT » the fact we didnt cave in, Pete

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - On the night Dirk Nowitzki overtook Dominique Wilkins on the career scoring list, Brandan Wright was a human highlight film all by himself. Wright made all 10 of his shots to finish with a season-high 23 points off the bench, and the Dallas Mavericks strengthened their hold on a playoff berth with a 107-95 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. "Thats what he does for us," Nowitzki said. "He makes some great stuff happen for us. Tonight he didnt miss a shot. He was phenomenal." Wright, who has come off the bench in all 53 of his games this season, began the day averaging 9.0 points and a team-best 67.5 per cent from the field (199 for 295). "I cant remember the last time I had a game where I didnt miss a shot, so its a good feeling — plus, we got the win," said the six-year veteran swingman. Nowitzkis 27 points increased his career total to 26,778, putting him in 11th place and within 32 of Oscar Robertson. "Unbelievable. Its been a crazy ride for 16 years, and its been surreal," Nowitzki said. "I used to be a big fan of Dominique, watched all of his dunk contests and the many ways he could score. Sometimes he would miss his shot and be the first one there to dunk over two people. He was so much fun to watch." The Mavericks, back at Staples Center one night after beating the Clippers, played their first road game against the Lakers since beating them 99-91 on opening night of last season. They have won all three meetings with the Lakers — the first time they swept the season series since this rivalry began in 1980-81. "I said it last night — that a win against the Clippers meant nothing if we lost today. And thats how we came out," Nowitzki said. Jodie Meeks had 25 points for the Lakers, who have dropped 13 of their last 17 and are 25-51 — their most losses since finishing a franchise-worst 30-52 in 1974-75. "It was an up-and-down game," Wright said. "Coming off a physical, tough game last night and then playing a team tonight with a lot of young guys and skill guys who were fresh and had nothing to lose, it was a recipe for a loss. But we took note of what they did to Phoenix the other night." Lakers centre Pau Gasol was sidelined for the sixth time in seven games because of a severe case of vertigo. Xavier Henry is done for the season because of residual pain from an injured right knee and a torn ligament in his left wrist that has limited him to 43 games, and he will undergo surgery in the near future. Coach Mike DAntoni, who hasnt had a full deck to work with for most of this injury-jinxed season, sent out a starting lineup consisting of Meeks and four others who had started a combined total of 23 NBA games entering this season: Jordan Hill (20), Kendall Marshall (three), Kent Bazemore (none) and rookie Ryan Kelly. "Theyre playing inspired basketball," Bazemore said of Dallas. "If anyone needs to win right now, its them. It was definitely a total team effort from them, and Dirk Nowitzki kept us at arms length all night, hitting big shots, and Brandan Wright was very good for them." The Lakers led 54-52 at halftime against another team on the playoff bubble that took them a bit too lightly at the start. Dallas concluded a contentious 10-game stretch in which four games were settled in overtime and four others were decided by margins of six points or fewer. Three of the overtime games resulted in losses to Minnesota, Brooklyn and Golden State. The Mavericks opened the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run, which Wright capped with a short jumper that extended their lead to 91-78 with 10 minutes to play. The Lakers got no closer than 10 the rest of the way. NOTES: Dallas F Shawn Marion recorded his 1,725th career steal, breaking a tie with Magic Johnson for 17th place, when he intercepted a pass by Wesley Johnson with 3:02 left in the first quarter. ... Umpires Joe West, Marty Foster and Alan Porter, who are in town to work the Dodgers-Giants series, attended the game. ... The Lakers havent been under .500 this deep into a season since 1993-94, when they were 21-35 after 56 games and finished 33-49. That was the first of only two times that they didnt make the playoffs during the 34 seasons that the franchise was owned by the late Jerry Buss. ... Steve Nash had seven assists in 18 minutes and increased his career total to 10,330, four shy of Mark Jackson for third place. ... Vince Carter, who was 0 for 8 from 3-point range, needs one more 3-pointer to become the seventh player in NBA history to make at least 1,800. ... The Lakers face the Clippers for the final time this season on Sunday, after losing six of their last seven meetings with their Staples Center co-tenants. The only win was on opening night. Since then, the Clippers have humiliated them by margins of 36 and 48 points. ... 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Their total salary expenditure of $4,417,975 was $17,975 over the salary cap of $4.RALEIGH, N.C. - Shootouts have become Shattenkirk time for the St. Louis Blues.Kevin Shattenkirk scored the winner in the tiebreaker for the second straight night, and the Blues beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Friday night for their fourth straight win.It helps when you get to go a little more often, said Shattenkirk, whose shootout goal on Thursday beat Nashville 5-4. It helps when youre trying to put your team up by a goal and (youre) not down by a goal. That pressure is tremendous, especially on the road.Ryan Reaves and David Backes scored in regulation for the Blues — who netted two goals in the games first 2:35 before the Hurricanes rallied to send the game into overtime.Jake Allen made 26 saves before stopping all three Carolina shooters in the tiebreaker.Defencemen Justin Faulk and Ryan Murphy scored for Carolina, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, but the Hurricanes have earned points in nine of 11 January games.We play hard. We compete, Carolina captain Eric Staal said. We showed that even when we werent winning games. Its been tight, its been competitive. We know we can compete with most teams in this league — any team in this league — and tonight was no different.Anton Khudobin made one save but allowed two goals before he was pulled 2:35 in and replaced by Cam Ward, who stopped all 29 shots he faced.Carolina coach Bill Peters said his players were apologizing to (Khudobin) before (he) even got within 50 feet of the bench.Shattenkirk beat Ward with a wrist shot in the second round of the shootout, and Allen stopped Staal with his pads to end it and give the Blues — 9-0-1 in their past 10 games — their second shootout win over Carolina this season.I think just being able to watch shooters go before you helps a lot, Shattenkirk said. I keep itt simple with my moves, and I think I saw an opening and took my shot.ddddddddddddBoth teams had chances to take the lead in the third period. Ward stopped a streaking Reaves from point-blank range midway through the frame, and in a bizarre sequence, Allen apparently didnt see a routine shot from Jeff Skinner that hit the inside of the left post but didnt cross the line.Two of Carolinas young defencemen scored to erase an early two-goal deficit. Faulk pulled the Hurricanes to 2-1 with a slap shot through traffic with 9:03 left in the first, and Murphy tied it with a slap shot that appeared to hit Blues defenceman Barret Jackmans stick on its way past Allen.I just like the fact we didnt cave in, Peters said.Such a rally seemed unlikely after St. Louis took control early.Reaves took a slick pass from Steve Ott — who was behind the goal line — and buried the puck past Khudobin. Backes chased the Carolina goalie 97 seconds later when he beat him with a wrist shot from the back of the right circle.St. Louis couldnt get anything past Ward until the tiebreaker.We had our chances, and their goalie made some big saves, Reaves said. I think they kind of woke up after the first period and had us on our heels a little bit, and then we responded well in the third. We just couldnt put the puck in the net.NOTES: St. Louis C Marcel Goc, acquired earlier this week from Pittsburgh, assisted on Reaves goal for his first point with the Blues. ... RW Alexander Semin was a healthy scratch for the fourth straight game for the Hurricanes. Carolina fell to 9-11-2 without him this season. ... The Blues didnt have C Patrik Berglund and C Jori Lehtera, who both sustained upper-body injuries at Nashville on Thursday.___Follow Joedy McCreary on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joedyap ' ' '