The Dallas Mavericks' offense barely had a pulse for most of three quarters. Then Dirk Nowitzki decided to take control. Nowitzki scored a club-record 29 of his 40 points during a frantic fourth-quarter comeback and the Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz 96-85 on Tuesday night. Nowitzki broke the franchise record of 24 points in any quarter set by Mark Aguirre against Denver on March 24, 1984.
Carmelo Anthony almost couldn't miss and Greg Oden missed when it mattered most. Anthony scored 19 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter and the Denver Nuggets were helped by Portland's trouble at the free-throw line for a 97-94 victory Thursday night. Oden missed a pair of free throws with 4.6 seconds left, squandering a chance for Portland to go ahead.
The NFL fined Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis $25,000 on Friday for two separate plays, including a helmet-to-helmet hit on Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco. The Ravens said Lewis will appeal the fine. Both plays occurred in the fourth quarter of Baltimore's 17-14 loss on Sunday. The league deemed that Lewis "unnecessarily kicked the opponent" and later…
LeBron James wasn't around. His shoes were present. Mike Miller, wearing a pair of James' signature sneakers, made 5-of-5 3-pointers and scored 24 points, Randy Foye scored 19 in the fourth quarter and the Wizards handed the James-less Cavs their first loss of the preseason, 109-104 on Wednesday night.
Kyle Orton is no John Elway, Josh McDaniels is no Bill Belichick and those mustard-yellow uniforms certainly don't have anyone thinking "Orange Crush." But on a day that had as much to do with Denver's colorful history as its promising present, anything seemed possible. Orton led a drive that might ring a bell for Broncos fans — 98 yards in the fourth quarter to tie the game –…