DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks cant seem to turn comfortable leads into easy wins, even with their playoff fate on the line against teams going nowhere. They avoided what would have been a damaging letdown against Sacramento on Saturday night. Nowitzki scored 19 points, including eight in the fourth quarter when the Mavericks wiped out a five-point deficit after leading by 17 in the first half and held on to beat the Kings 103-100. "Its unfortunate its been part of our DNA, and I just feel like were going to snap out of it," said coach Rick Carlisle, whose team has lost six games after leading by at least 16 points this season. "And I know we have to. So Im a very positive thinker on this." The Mavericks beat Sacramento at home for the 20th straight time in the regular season, the longest against any opponent in franchise history. Dallas (44-30) is in a virtual tie with Memphis (43-29) for eighth place in the Western Conference, a half-game behind Phoenix. The Mavericks have eight games left and finish the regular season at the Grizzlies. Rudy Gay scored 30 for the Kings. Monta Ellis had 17 points and six assists and Sam Dalembert added 15 as Dallas avoided a second loss to a West also-ran on a franchise-record eight-game homestand that ends Tuesday night against Golden State, the fourth likely playoff-bound opponent in five games. "Weve got to push it," Dalembert said. "We have to go out every night and fight, try to get anything we can get and see if we can get that second chance." The Kings were up 89-84 after a jumper from Jason Thompson when Jose Calderon started a 10-0 run with a 3-pointer and Nowitzki hit a pair of free throws for a tie. Shawn Marion made two more free throws to put Dallas back in front, then knocked down a 3-pointer from the right corner for a 94-89 lead. Marion finished with 14 points. Sacramento had a chance to tie in the final seconds after Ellis missed two free throws, but Travis Outlaws 3-pointer was short just before the buzzer. "We played a lot harder, a lot more physical, in the second half," Sacramento coach Michael Malone said. "But we dont want to be having to get down by 17 to do it." Gay, who had 35 points in another close loss at the Mavericks in January, led Sacramentos push for its first regular-season win in Dallas since Feb. 27, 2003. The Kings won a playoff game in Dallas in 2004 when they eliminated the Mavericks in five games in the first round. Gay tipped in his own miss for the Kings first lead at 81-80 with 7:26 remaining in the game and muscled in a bucket after Ray McCallum missed a layup. Gay also had seven rebounds. With Kings point guard Isaiah Thomas missing his third straight game with a right thigh contusion, McCallum became the first NBA player this season to go the full 48 minutes. He has played six straight quarters over two nights after going the entire second half of a loss at Oklahoma City. McCallum, who had 16 points and eight assists, was briefly the only guard available when fellow rookie Ben McLemore left with what he said was a mild knee injury in the third quarter before returning in the fourth. "I felt fine the whole entire game," said McCallum, who has averaged 45 minutes per game in his three career starts with Thomas sidelined. "I knew with Isaiah being out, I would play more. I took a challenge to keep the team in the game and run the offence." McLemore had ice on both knees and his left shoulder after the game, but said he was fine. Nowitzki led the Mavericks with seven rebounds and tied Calderon for the team lead with seven assists. Reggie Evans had a season-high 18 rebounds for Sacramento, and DeMarcus Cousins finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists despite sitting most of the third quarter with four fouls. NOTES: Kings coach Michael Malone said Thomas might play Monday at New Orleans. ... Kings F Jason Thompson got a technical for complaining about a foul called against him on a three-point play by Marion. It contributed to a seven-point spurt in just 26 seconds that gave Dallas a 50-33 lead late in the first half. ... Ellis has been willing to take charges all season, never better illustrated that early in the third quarter when the 6-foot-11, 270-pound Cousins dribbled the length of the floor before plowing through the 6-3, 185-pound Ellis under the basket. Cheap Air Jordan 3 Retro All White .Cowboys owner Jerry Jones seems to be leaning the fiscally responsible way.Let me put it like this: Its going to be a challenge, Jones said of re-signing both of Dallas biggest potential free agents. Cheap Air Jordan 3 Retro Brown . "This isnt really the week you want to lose Chris Greaves," fellow lineman Glenn January said Wednesday after practice. Greaves is expected to miss several weeks after suffering a knee injury in last weeks 36-28 win over the Ottawa Redblacks. http://www.cheapjordanretro3.com/cheap-a...n-3-retro-pink/. Mike Trout, Josh Hamilton and Kole Calhoun all homered to help the Los Angeles Angels get their first win of the season with an 11-1 rout of the Houston Astros. Jordan 3 White Cement Cheap .C. United to a 4-1 victory over short-handed FC Dallas on Saturday night. Cheap Air Jordan 3 Retro Green . Cox started the season with San Francisco, but was released by the team on Nov. 12 before being signed by Seattle, where he appeared in two games and tallied three tackles before being released on Dec.CONCORD, N.C. - Jamie McMurray started his day at home with his young son, who vowed to spend the day playing in his sand box. Then Carter McMurray asked his dad what he had planned for Saturday. "Im going to race for a million bucks, " McMurray told him. Race for it? Sure. Win it? With his Las Vegas odds at 40-1, McMurray was one of the biggest long shots Saturday night in the Sprint All-Star race. But he pulled off a masterful upset, staging a tense door-to-door battle with Carl Edwards to grab the $1 million prize with his first All-Star victory. McMurray, who led a race-high 31 laps, had never before led a lap in the All-Star race, and his previous best finish in seven appearances in the exhibition was eighth. McMurray was second on the restart for the 10-lap sprint to the checkered flag. Lined up outside of pole-sitter Edwards, McMurray flirted several times for the lead on a frantic lap around Charlotte Motor Speedway. Although he surged slightly ahead several times, and the two cars appeared to touch more than once, McMurray finally cleared Edwards for the lead two laps into the fifth and final segment. "As a kid, that is what you grew up wanting to do, is have a shootout like that and have a possibility to race for 10 laps," McMurray said. "He got a little bit of a jump on me on the restart and I was able to hang on to his quarter panel, and when we kept entering Turn 1 and 3, I was like, It is for a million bucks. If we wreck, its not that big of a deal. "Its so cool to come out on top." Once he cleared Edwards, McMurray easily pulled away for the victory. Edwards, who faded to fifth, immediately watched the replay after the race. "Jamie just did a perfect job on the start. I had him cleared for a minute," Edwards said. "If I would have pulled in front of him in Turn 1, if I would have gone high, I think we would have won that race. But I was just so reluctant to give up the bottom. It was a drag race. My hat is off to him. He earned it." McMurrays first career victory came at Charlotte in 2002 in his second start with Chip Ganassi Racing. He also won in 2010 and goes into the Coca-Cola 600 next Sunday needing a win in that race to have career victories in all three of Charlottes main events. Kevin Harvick finished second, Matt Kenseth was third and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who complained earlier in the race he was driving a dump truck, was fourth. Kurt Busch was 11th after qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day.dddddddddddd "Really happy to see Jamie win, its always nice to see good guys win," said Kenseth, a former teammate of McMurrays at Roush Fenway Racing. It seemed to be a popular victory as several drivers made a point to congratulate McMurray in their post-race interviews as the driver took his Chevrolet to Victory Lane. He was met there by team owners Felix Sabates and Chip Ganassi, who flew into North Carolina before the race after Indianapolis 500 qualifying. It was a tough day for Ganassi in Indianapolis, where none of his five cars made it into the Fast 9 qualifying round and Scott Dixon was his fastest driver at 15th. "We obviously didnt have a good day in Indianapolis and youre damn right this turned the day around," said Ganassi, who kissed McMurray as he and Sabates cut the post-race news conference short to head back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch won the first segment, but his night ended early in the second 20-lap segment when he used an aggressive move in a fast attempt to avoid running into the back of older brother, Kurt. "His brother forced his hand," Clint Bowyer said of the accident that nearly collected his car. "Hell, I dont know how I didnt wreck." The Busch brothers were running together when Kurt was too close to the outside wall and Kyle tried to dart into the middle lane to avoid hitting him. Instead, Kyle hit the back of Bowyer as he tried to swing around Bowyer into a third lane. Bowyer clipped him as Busch surged ahead, and it began a spin that sent Busch into the path of Joey Logano. Busch failed to finish the All-Star race for the fifth time in nine years. "I saw Kurt get really bottled up and about get in the wall, so he had to check-up real hard and my shot was in the middle, to go across three lanes and underneath Bowyer," Busch said. "But Bowyer blocked it and when he did, I got into him. Those are the opportunities you have to take in the All-Star." Kasey Kahne went on to win that segment, and the third segment. "I say just leave the car for now, felt pretty good right there," Kahne radioed after the third segment as his crew debated pit strategy. But his night fell apart in the fourth segment when he hit the wall to damage his Chevrolet. "I hit it hard. I blew it bad," he radioed. "Sorry, guys. I cant believe that happened. We had the best car here by far. Great, great car." Kahne wound up 14th. 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