Wertschätzung » first goal -- logged a career-high 28:16. Dought

DALLAS -- Monta Ellis struggled with his shot for most of the game. His big 2-minute outburst in the fourth quarter Tuesday night is all that really mattered for the Dallas Mavericks. Ellis scored 10 consecutive points on five shots after coming back on the floor, two of them after making steals. That helped the Mavericks avoid their longest home losing streak in 14 years with a 110-97 victory over the slumping and injury-plagued Los Angeles Lakers, who lost for the eighth time in nine games. "Monta had a rough game to that point offensively, although he had quite a few assists," coach Rick Carlisle said. "We needed a spark, he made plays. ... That spurt, that got us the win." Ellis, who finished with 16 points and nine assists, was 2-of-11 shooting before his five baskets in a row stretched the Dallas lead from eight to 13 with 5:44 left. He then had assists on the next two Mavericks baskets. "I stayed with it," Ellis said. "I kept attacking the basket and kept taking my shot, and eventually they started going down." Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points to lead the Mavericks, who had lost four in a row at home. They hadnt won in their own arena since beating Memphis the week before Christmas. The last time Dallas lost more than four straight at home was a six-game slide that ended in January 2000, not long before Mark Cuban bought the team. "I actually looked for us to play a lot better from start to finish. It just didnt go that way," Carlisle said. "It just was a struggling night." Still, the Mavericks shot 53 per cent from the field and had 32 assist on 48 baskets. They had 17 steals and 12 turnovers. Mav forward Shawn Marion, who started after being questionable because of ankle and Achilles issues, left with a bruised right shoulder after a hard fall just before halftime after he got tangled up with Pau Gasol and tripped over Nowitzki. X-rays were negative, but Marion wont travel with the team for Wednesday nights game at San Antonio. "Hes banged up," Carlisle said "Hes played hurt plenty of times, but he took a bad fall." Nowitzki had three baskets on passes from Gal Mekel in a 59-second span early in the second quarter to put Dallas up 43-39. Nowitzki started the span with a running layup before consecutive 11-foot jumpers that sandwiched a 3-pointer by Jodie Meeks. Meeks, who led the Lakers with 24 points, made two free throws with 8:07 left in the first half to tie the game at 43, but Jose Calderons 3-pointer on a pass from Marion put the Mavericks ahead to stay. "Weve got some guys who are struggling right now, and some guys playing well," Lakers coach Mike DAntoni said. "Then in the next game, the guys who were struggling play well and the others start struggling." Vince Carter scored 19 points for Dallas, DeJuan Blair added 15 and Calderon 12. Kendall Marshall had 18 points for the Lakers, while Wesley Johnson added 17. Gasol had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Since a 3-0 road trip that ended New Years Day at Washington, the Mavericks had lost two more home games. The last was 92-80 to the New York Knicks on Sunday when they were held to their season-low scoring output. Los Angeles is without Kobe Bryant (left knee), Steve Nash (back), Steve Blake (torn ulnar collateral ligament) and Jordan Farmar (left hamstring tear). Nash has missed 27 consecutive games, and Bryant has been out 10 straight since playing in his only six games this season. "Its tough. Im trying my best to get us going," said Nick Young, who is dealing with his own back issue. "The more we keep getting buried, its harder to get back. Weve still got to stay with it, stay a team. There aint nowhere to go but up." NOTES: Dallas is 4-5 in the first of back-to-back games this season. The Mavs play at San Antonio on Wednesday night. They then get one day off before another back-to-back, at New Orleans on Friday night and then hosting the Pelicans on Saturday night. ... Marshall had 32 assists in his first two starts for the Lakers. He had six assists with six turnovers against Dallas. NHL Jerseys Sale . "Its not done, but its a huge step," Hannover general manager Dirk Dufner said. Poor defending allowed the visitors to score in the second minute, when Leon Andreasens header from Christian Panders cross sent the ball inside the far post. Fake NHL Jerseys . LOUIS -- Russell Martin wanted a better fate for his starting pitcher and helped deliver a happier ending. https://www.chinanhljerseys.us/ . -- The Chiefs have signed seven players to reserve/future contracts, including running back Joe McKnight, a former fourth-round pick of the New York Jets. Wholesale NHL Jerseys . An unconventional night for Texas-El Paso nearly led to the Miners getting a huge upset. Down by 14 with 2:21 left, the Miners went on a frantic closing spurt that fell just short, and UTEP was beaten by No. Custom NHL Jerseys . More importantly, he is trying to show his young teammates the Colorado are still post-season contenders. He hopes winning a series at home was a fresh start.The Boston Bruins used a third-period rally to even their series against the Montreal Canadiens, while the Los Angeles Kings scored late to tie before winning in overtime against the Anaheim Ducks. Notes on Bergeron, Marchand, Gorges, Vanek, Gaborik, Doughty, Hiller and more. BRUINS STORM BACK TO TAKE GAME TWO The Boston Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring four unanswered goals, to win Game Two, 5-3 over the Montreal Canadiens. Midway through the third period, the Canadiens held a 3-1 lead, on the strength of two goals from Thomas Vanek, rebounding nicely from having his ice time cut in Game One, and one from defenceman Mike Weaver. While the Canadiens held a two-goal lead -- which apparently isnt remotely safe in this years playoffs -- they were losing the territorial battle quite handily and the game played out as a microcosm of why shot-based analysis makes sense. Sure, its possible that Carey Price could have continued standing on his head, making great save after great save, but the Bruins carried play, to the tune of 58.4% at even-strength, so odds were against holding them off. Thats not to say it cant happen. It happened in Game One and the Canadiens were 10 minutes away from escaping Boston with a 2-0 series lead, but when one side continues to generate chances, they usually start going in at some point. Which brings us the Bruins line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Reilly Smith; one of the best lines in hockey this season. Bergeron (1 G, 1 A) and Marchand (2 A) each had two points in the third-period comeback, and Smith put the exclamation point on it, burying the winning goal with 3:32 remaining. Bergeron now has eight points to lead the Bruins in the postseason. Canadiens D P.K. Subban, who assisted on both of Vaneks goals, lead the Habs with nine points in six playoff games. As for the territorial dominance, it was the Bruins third line that carried the play in that respect. Loui Eriksson and Carl Soderberg were on for 75% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts when they were on the ice. That tilted ice made it difficult for the Canadiens to sustain their lead. For the Habs, D Josh Gorges was a standout, on for 59.1% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts, as the Canadiens only had 34.7% of the 5-on-5 shots with Gorges off the ice. As much as the Canadiens have been dominated, possession-wise (getting 41.0% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts), through the first two games, they have to be satisfied with the results. They picked up a road split and head home for two, but also must realize that they will have to be dramatically better to withstand the onslaught they have faced from Boston. GABORIK DEAL PAYS DIVIDENDS Los Angeles Kings LW Marian Gaborik scored with seven seconds left in the third period to force overtime in Game One against the Anaheim Duckks, then 12:07 into the extra frame, he re-directed a pass from Anze Kopitar past Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller, giving the Kings a 3-2 win.dddddddddddd (Thats right, Jonas Hiller, whose last start was April 6, got the Game One start for Anaheim, and stopped 33 of the 36 shots he faced.) Gaborik had two goals and an assist, giving him eight points in eight playoff games, prompting some discussion about his trade deadling acquisition from Columbus. I wrote about the deal at the time, suggesting that the opportunity to play with a dominant possession player like Kopitar would provide a chance for Gaborik to regain his scoring touch. After being held scoreless in his first three games with the Kings, Gaborik has 24 points in 24 (regular season plus playoff) games. Here are the highest-scoring players, with their new teams, among those that moved at this years trade deadline:Ales Hemsky, RW, Ottawa (4 G, 13 A)Marian Gaborik, LW, Los Angeles (5 G, 11 A)Thomas Vanek, RW, Montreal (6 G, 9 A)Brandon Pirri, C, Florida (7 G, 7 A)Matt Moulson, LW, Minnesota (6 G, 7 A)Ryan Callahan, RW, Tampa Bay (6 G, 5 A)Lee Stempniak, RW, Pittsburgh (4 G, 7 A)Calle Jarnkrok, C, Nashville (2 G, 7 A)Martin St. Louis, RW, N.Y. Rangers (1 G, 7 A) Kopitar picked up three assists to move into the playoff scoring lead, with 13 points. With assists on both Ducks goals, Ryan Getzlaf is up to a team-leading nine points in the postseason. With D Robyn Regehr injured in the first period, Kings D Drew Doughty played a game-high 33:06, while Alec Martinez -- who scored the games first goal -- logged a career-high 28:16. Doughty was a possession monster, and the Kings had 64.6% of the 5-on-5 shots when Doughty was on the ice, compared to 44.8% when Doughty was off the ice. Coming into the series, the Kings were expected to hold a decided advantage in puck possession, since they were the leagues best during the regular season, but the Ducks ran neck-and-neck with the Kings. At 5-on-5, they tied with 41 unblocked shot attempts. The Ducks line of Emerson Etem, Nick Bonino and Devante Smith-Pelly was on for more than 60% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts, when they were on the ice, despite starting the vast majority of their shifts in the defensive zone. They feasted on Kings D Slava Voynov, who was at the low-end (44.4%) of the possession spectrum for the Kings. That the Ducks could handle the possession game against Los Angeles was encouraging but, no matter how you slice it, losing a lead in the final 10 seconds is disheartening. Can they recover to salvage a home split in Game Two? Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '