DALLAS -- Monta Ellis scored 26 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 21 and the Dallas Mavericks pulled away from the Denver Nuggets in the fourth quarter of a 122-106 victory Friday night. The Mavericks avoided a season sweep by the Nuggets, who ran away with a win in Denver two weeks ago to hand Dallas its longest losing streak at three games. Dallas (42-28) got a boost in the playoff race when Miami rallied from seven down in the last 3 1/2 minutes to beat Memphis 91-86 Friday night. The Mavericks and Grizzlies (40-28) started the day in a virtual tie for the final post-season spot in the Western Conference. Vince Carter shook off a dislocated pinkie on his left hand in the first quarter to finish with 13. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 18 points and eight rebounds before leaving with an apparent injury in the fourth quarter. Ty Lawson had 17 points and nine assists after missing a game with a sinus infection, and Randy Foye scored 15, all on 3-pointers. The Mavericks led by 15 early in the fourth quarter but couldnt put the Nuggets away until late. Denver was within 99-96 after a 3-pointer and dunk from Dallas native Darrell Arthur, who had nine of his 11 points in the second half. But Nowitzki hit back-to-back fadeaway jumpers and Brandan Wright and Shawn Marion took turns feeding each other for baskets, the last one Marions dunk for a 109-99 lead with 4 minutes to go. Wright, a 6-foot-10 centre, had all three of his assists in a 4-minute stretch of the fourth quarter and finished with 13 points. Marion scored 14 as the Mavericks had seven players in double figures. Ellis, who scored 12 straight Dallas points to force overtime in a loss to Minnesota on Wednesday, ran off eight straight to put the Nuggets away and clinch a winning season after a 12-year run of winning records ended with a 41-41 mark last season. Ellis was 11-of-14 shooting and had seven assists. Hickson helped keep Denver close with 10 second-half points and was four shy of his season high against the Mavericks in November before going out. The Mavericks avoided the slow starts that plagued them the last time they played Denver and in an overtime loss to Minnesota, another West also-ran, in their last game. Jae Crowder really got Dallas going in the second quarter, going 4 of 4 from 3-point range, including three straight Dallas baskets that put the Mavericks up 50-36. Averaging 4.7 points per game coming in, Crowder led Dallas in the first half with 12 points but didnt attempt another shot. NOTES: The teams combined to go 25 of 52 from 3-point range. The Nuggets had 13 from long range and the Mavericks had 12. The season high is 12 for both teams. ... Nuggets C Kenneth Faried got a technical in the third quarter after colliding with Jose Calderon and knocking the Dallas guard to the floor. ... The Nuggets swept the season series with Dallas in 2008-09 and won four straight over the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. ... The Mavericks recalled G Gal Mekel from the Texas Legends of the D-League. Hes played 31 games for Dallas and four games for the affiliate. The 26-year-old rookie from Israel missed nearly two months with a knee injury. Nike Vapormax Damen Günstig . scored 18 of his career- high 28 points in the first half, as fifth-ranked Ohio State dominated No. Vapormax Plus Schweiz . - The New Orleans Saints have re-signed receiver Joseph Morgan for one year and have agreed to a four-year deal with free agent fullback Erik Lorig. http://www.vapormaxkaufenschweiz.com/air-max-97-schweiz.html . -- A 25-year-old freelance journalist from British Columbia was formally charged on Thursday with a felony, five days after she was arrested in the United States over allegations she threatened to kill her hockey player boyfriend. Vapormax Damen Günstig Kaufen . Lupul injured the hand in a fall at practice on Thursday. He will wear a cast for a minimum of 10 days before he can put a glove back on it and get some mobility back, said Carlyle, who added the winger wont go on the teams upcoming road trip. Nike Vapormax Herren Billig . Williams withdrawal came less than 24 hours after losing in the final Auckland WTA tournament final. "I dont believe she has an injury," Hobart tournament director Mark Handley said.DUBLIN, Ireland -- Marcel Kittel sprinted to a second straight stage victory in a wet third leg of the Giro dItalia on Sunday while Michael Matthews retained the overall leaders pink jersey. Kittel looked to have left it too late on his 26th birthday after losing contact with his rivals inside the final kilometre. But the German cyclist came from behind to edge out Ben Swift on the line and deny the Briton a maiden Grand Tour stage victory. Kittel finished in four hours 28 minutes 43 seconds. Elia Viviani was third in a bunch sprint at the end of the 187-kilometre cross-border leg from Armagh to Dublin. Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., was 74th while Victorias Ryder Hesjedal finished 96th. Tuft is in a four-way tie for fourth in the overall standings while Hesjedal is tied for 156th. Matthews -- whose Orica-GreenEdge team won Fridays opening time trial -- will lead the race back to Italy and the Australian has an eight-second advantage over Italian cyclist Alessandro Petacchi. Rain fell intermittently for most of the day and wet roads caused several crashes, including two large ones, but all the rideers were able to continue.dddddddddddd Former winner Michele Scarponi was one of the riders caught up in a large crash around 60 kilometres from the finish. Several cyclists also suffered technical problems and Swift briefly dropped off the back of the peloton when he had to change his bike with 25 kilometres to go. Maarten Tjallingii, who is still wearing the blue King of the Mountains jersey, led for most of the stage for the second day in a row. He was part of an early breakaway of five riders, along with Yonder Godoy, Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez, Gert Dockx and Giorgio Cecchinel. They had a lead of six minutes before the peloton started reeling them in with more than 100 kilometres remaining. Their advantage briefly increased as the peloton slowed to wait for riders involved in the major crashes to catch up, but the group was back together with more than seven kilometres remaining after a brief solo escape from Cecchinel. After three wet days in Northern Ireland and Ireland, the Giro takes a rest day on Monday as it travels back to Italy. The Giro ends in Trieste on June 1. ' ' '