ever at Texas, which hosted its 28th Cup race.There were seve

DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki says he wasnt thinking about the last time the Dallas Mavericks blew a 30-point lead and lost. Cheap Pirates Jerseys . The biggest collapse in franchise history was a long time ago, and he was too busy trying to make sure it didnt happen again. Nowitzki scored 22 points, Devin Harris hit the go-ahead shot in the final minute and the Mavericks rallied in the fourth quarter after blowing their huge first-half lead, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 103-98 Friday night. "Youre just out there battling," Nowitzki said. "Theyre a very, very good team. They came back a lot quicker than we wanted it to be, but we kept fighting and got the win." LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 30 for Portland, including 18 in the third quarter when the Blazers went in front for the first time at 69-67 after trailing 44-14 early in the second quarter. But Nowitzki didnt pause to remember Dec. 6, 2002, when the Mavericks lost at the Los Angeles Lakers 105-103 after leading 66-36 early in the third quarter. Rick Carlisle wasnt dwelling on the blown lead either. "How many whatever-point leads have we blown this year?" the Dallas coach said. "Theres been tons of them. Weve got to work to prevent it. Theres no harder way to do it than what happened tonight." The score was tied 98-all when Aldridge missed a shot from the lane and Harris won the scramble for the rebound. He dribbled the length of the floor and hit a leaning shot on the baseline and was fouled by Damian Lillard with 24 seconds left. "He busted my mouth open, so I knew I wasnt all the way in front of him," Lillard said. "But I figured since that was the second time that he dipped his head into my face, I figured they would call offensive foul. We still had a couple opportunities after that that we didnt take advantage of." After Harris free throw put Dallas up by three, Aldridges pass went over Lillards head out of bounds. Monta Ellis missed two free throws, but Vince Carter slipped between a pair of Portland players for the offensive rebound and was fouled. Carter made both free throws, and Ellis had a steal to seal a wild win that snapped the Mavericks season-high three-game losing streak. "I had some big miscues down the stretch," said Aldridge, who had 17 rebounds. "I missed some shots down the stretch. Fighting all the way back, being up and having the opportunity to win and not taking care of business." Dallas took its first 30-point lead at 40-10 on Brandan Wrights alley-oop dunk from Ellis early in the second quarter, one of many easy breakaway baskets early. Thomas Robinson had six points on a 12-1 run that started Portlands comeback, getting the Blazers within 19. That was Dallas margin to begin the third quarter, when Aldridge took over, scoring six straight early in the period and another six straight later. The Blazers, who led by 38 in a blowout win over the Mavericks the last time they were in Dallas in January, wiped out the last of the deficit on a 3-pointer by Wesley Matthews to knot it 67-all with 4:02 left in the third. The Blazers went ahead for the first time at 69-67 on a putback by Aldridge. "It was unbelievable," Wright said. "We got outscored by I dont know how much after that first quarter being up 40-10. They went on a heck of a run, but all its going to say in the paper tomorrow is that we got the W." The lead changed hands three more times late in the third, setting up a back-and-forth battle in the fourth. Portland pushed out to an 85-78 lead on another 3 from Matthews, who had 26 points, and a jumper from Mo Williams, but Harris hit a 3-pointer to finish an 8-0 Dallas run for a 90-89 lead. The Blazers went back up 98-92 on an alley-oop dunk by Aldridge, but Dallas pulled even when Sam Dalembert stole the ball from Lillard and tossed to Ellis for a breakaway layup. Jose Calderon had 19 for Dallas, including 15 in the first quarter. Ellis had 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Nowitzki had six assists and five rebounds. Harris finished with 12 points. NOTES: Robinson returned after missing four games with a left knee injury. He fouled out with 7:52 remaining. ... Ellis made his 500th career start. ... The Mavericks shot 53 per cent in their 115-110 loss to Denver on Wednesday. It was their best shooting percentage in a loss this season. ... The Blazers had season lows for points in a quarter (10) and the first half (38). The previous low for a first half was 41 in a 90-89 win over Phoenix. Pittsburgh Pirates Gear . Hamilton signed offensive linemen Mike Filer, Joel Reinders, Landon Rice and Carson Rockhill. Pirates Jerseys 2019 . Cammalleri scored two goals, Corban Knight netted the winner in a shootout, and the Flames erased a two-goal deficit in the third period to beat the Stars 4-3 on Friday night. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/ . -- Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew practiced in a limited capacity Friday, a positive sign he might be able to play against the Tennessee Titans.FORT WORTH, Texas - Brad Keselowski is doing everything he can for a chance at another NASCAR championship. No matter how angry he makes other drivers.Jeff Gordon was fighting mad at Texas, leading to a post-race confrontation with Keselowski and a big melee. Gordons shot at a huge playoff victory got wiped out after hard contact during extra laps Sunday.Its his disregard for whats going on out there, said Gordon, the four-time champion who in an earlier live post-race television interview used an expletive in referring to Keselowski. He made an over-aggressive move. Those are moves you find if youve got a slamming, banging race. He cut my left rear tire. That was it for me. Its a real shame.After spinning out, losing a lap in the pits and finishing 29th, Gordon became the second competitor in four races during the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship to confront 2012 champ Keselowski after the checkered flag.Fireworks exploded in the sky, and on pit road, while Gordon teammate Jimmie Johnson celebrated his third consecutive victory in the Texas fall race.Gordon was leading on a restart on Lap 335, one more than the races scheduled length, when he took the outside line. When the No. 24 car drifted up a bit, Keselowski pushed through the gap before the contact.By the time it closed up, I was committed, and I stayed in it. That almost won me the race, said an unapologetic Keselowski, who finished third.Im doing everything I can to win this championship, racing at 100 per cent. Thats something Im not going to be ashamed for.At Charlotte Motor Speedway last month, it was Matt Kenseth who lost his cool and attacked Keselowski.Gordon stopped his car right by Keselowski after the Texas race, and there were of punches thrown. NASCAR officials were in the middle of crew members and others around Keselowskis No. 2 car.It seemed the only contact among drivers was when Kevin Harvick shoved Keselowski into the fracas, and Gordon briefly appeared to grab hold of Keselowskis fire suit.I just turned him around and told him to go fight his own fight, Harvick said.Keselowskis face was puffy, and he took a couple quick drinks of water to wash the blood from his mouth. Gordon was left with a cut on his lip.I couldnt even tell you what happened, said Keselowski, who confirmed he was hit by someone. Just a melee of people.All the punches thrown appeared to come from crew members — including a member of Gordon teammate Kasey Kahnes team who appeared to land several shots on Keselowski from behind.NASCAR will review the brawl and penalties could be issued during the week. Keselowski was fined $50,000 for his behaviour at Charlotte, but Kenseth escaped penalty because he did not throw any punches when he jumped Keselowski from behind.Robin Pemberton, NASCAR senior vvice-president of competition and racing development, indicated he had no problem with the hard racing in Texas. Stitched Pirates Jerseys. He might have a different take on what happened after the race.Everybody gets together, and when youre holding on to each other and grabbing and this, that and the other, its one thing, Pemberton said. When punches are landed, thats a different scenario.Some things that happened at Texas that maybe got overlooked because of the post-race brawl:POINTS MATTER: Because both races in the third round of the Chase have been won by drivers already eliminated from contention, at least three of the drivers in the final four at Homestead will be determined by points.The eight Chase contenders going to Phoenix next week are separated by only 18 points.Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin both have 4,072 points, two more than Ryan Newman. Gordon dropped from first to fourth after the Texas rumble, a point ahead of Kenseth and Carl Edwards. Keselowski and Harvick round out the contenders.4 FOR 70: Johnson became the first driver to win four Cup races at Texas, and got his 70th career victory. Johnson led nine times, keeping the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in front for 191 of the 341 laps.To win 70 Cup races is mind-blowing to me, Johnson said. Very proud to have all my races with one race team with one sponsor.The six-time Cup champion was eliminated from Chase contention in the second, three-race round.Johnson was 1.6 seconds behind teammate Gordon when Clint Bowyer had an accident on the frontstretch on the 331st of 334 scheduled laps.Jeff just got a really good start the restart before and got control of the race, Johnson said.NO TRIFECTA: Kyle Busch finished fourth, but never really threatened in his bid to complete his second career NASCAR tripleheader weekend sweep.Busch was already a lap down and running 22nd when part of his tire came apart on lap 205. He got up into the top 10 after a final series of cautions.We were a bag of everything today. Man, we were so bad, Busch said. We fought all day long. ... The guys got me a good car there at the end in order to battle back and come back for a fourth.Busch started ninth, but had already slipped six spots within the first five laps.Busch also won the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series races at Texas in 2009, but ran out of fuel with 2 1/2 laps left in the Cup race when he was leading. He did complete an unprecedented tripleheader sweep at Bristol in 2010.YELLOW SUNDAY: After only one caution in the first 175 laps, a stretch which included 129 consecutive green-flag laps, the yellow flag flew 12 times in the last 166 laps.The 13 total cautions were the most ever at Texas, which hosted its 28th Cup race.There were seven yellow flags in the final 55 laps. ' ' '