n recent weeks and Tommy Ruuggles has played a fair bit there now.dddddd

NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks spent $72 million to make Joakim Noah the anchor of their defense.On Monday, they sat him down and turned around a game.Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis each scored 24 points, and the Knicks rolled after a halftime lineup change and beat the short-handed Dallas Mavericks 93-77.The Knicks benched Noah, their big free-agent signing, starting guard Justin Holiday and moving Porzingis to center in a small lineup. They responded by scoring 31 points in the third quarter after managing just 36 in an ugly first half.Second half was really good. Coach made the decision to play small, Noah said. I didnt get to play, everybody wants to play, but its good that we won. We found a way. It was much-needed.Anthony scored 17 in the third quarter and 20 in the second half after shooting 1 for 6 in the first half. Porzingis finished with 11 rebounds, though coach Jeff Hornacek doesnt think his move to starting center is going to be permanent.Just because it was good in the second half doesnt mean were going to change it, Hornacek said.Harrison Barnes scored 20 points and J.J. Barea had 17 for the Mavericks, who are still without Dirk Nowitzki and Deron Williams.The remaining lineup was good enough to take a 39-36 halftime lead but got run off the floor once the Knicks returned with a different look.This is where everybody has got to be totally together, help each other out, really focus on doing the little things at a high level, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. I thought the first half we did that. In the second half we had breakdowns.Anthony made a 3-pointer to open the half and later had six straight points in the midst of the Knicks 19-6 run that Holiday capped with a 3-pointer that made it 55-45. New York outscored Dallas 31-12 in the period as the Mavs shot 5 for 20, and it was 67-51 headed to the fourth.Porzingis and Anthony made consecutive 3-pointers that pushed it to 82-64 midway through the period and soon both were on the bench for good.Noah, a defensive-minded center who battled injuries in his final season in Chicago, grabbed six rebounds in 16 scoreless minutes. He didnt play in the second half, while Holiday finished with 16 points.TIP-INSMavericks: Dallas had won five straight and 24 of the last 29 meetings. ... Barnes had scored 25 or more in a career-best three straight games.Knicks: The Knicks snapped a two-game losing streak. ... New York won for the first time in five games this season when scoring fewer than 100 points.DIRK WORKSNowitzki had a lengthy pregame workout on the court, but by then the Mavs had already determined that he would miss his fourth straight game with a sore right Achilles.I think hes really close. Hes feeling a lot better and we just dont want to rush anything, owner Mark Cuban said. Theres no reason to rush anything with him.TAKE TIMEDallas was twice called for technical fouls in the fourth quarter for calling timeout when it had no timeouts remaining.HELPING HANDHornacek asked Carlisle if Nowitzki would work out with Porzingis in September. They couldnt get anything scheduled but both sides hope they can eventually.Dirks a giver, he would love to see every international guy have the same opportunities hes had, Carlisle said. Its something that didnt work out because I think at the time in September Dirks travel schedule and Kristaps health situation didnt match up, but maybe sometime in the future. I know that Dirk would look forward to spending time with him and vice versa.UP NEXTMavericks: Visit Boston on Wednesday to finish four-game, coast-to-coast road trip that began at the Los Angeles Lakers. Dallas has won seven straight against the Celtics.Knicks: Host Detroit on Wednesday. The Pistons beat the Knicks 102-89 earlier this season.---This story has been corrected to show that Nowitzki has missed four straight games. Knockoff Football Jerseys . PETERSBURG, Fla. Replica Football Jerseys . Despite dominating possession, Schalke needed an own goal from Nicolas Hoefler for the breakthrough a minute before the interval. The Freiburg midfielder misjudged Jefferson Farfans corner and bundled the ball into his own net. https://www.fakefootballjerseys.com/ . Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said. Fake Football Jerseys Online .Y. - Free agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, fresh off winning the World Series with Boston, reached agreement with the rival New York Yankees on a seven-year contract worth about $153 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday night. Fake Football Jerseys For Sale . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Geelongs miserly defence has proven adaptable this AFL season and Harry Taylor expects that to continue in the absence of Lachie Henderson.Henderson underwent knee surgery earlier this week and its unclear when he will be fit to return.It is a pre-finals blow to the Cats, who have conceded the least number of goals this season with the exception of ladder-leading Sydney.But its far from unchartered territory for Taylor and his fellow backmen, who host Melbourne in a crunch clash on Saturday.Henderson was knocked out in a round-17 win over Fremantle and missed the following two weeks, while he played forward in last Sundays 60-point win over Brisbane.Geelongs key-defender stocks were also depleted in a round-eight triumph over the Crows at Adelaide Oval, where Tom Lonergan was concussed in the opening minutes.Weve been able to mix and match and handle losing one of the tall guys pretty well so Im hopeful that will be the case for this week and however long we dont have Lach, Taylor told AAP.Last week we adapted pretty well when he was in a different position.Weve got some guys who have been able to help throughout the season and Im sure theyll do the same.Cameron Guthrie has played a little bit more defence in recent weeks and Tommy Ruuggles has played a fair bit there now.ddddddddddddaylor noted Henderson, who joined Geelong during last years trade period, remains really confident he will feature in the finals.Hes an ultra professional person who manages his body well .. that gives you a really good chance of coming back quicker, the veteran said.The Cats can finish as high as first or low as sixth depending on results in the final round of the season.Taylor suggested it was an incredibly important match - even if you put the ladder scenarios to one side.You dont want to go into finals battling for form and not really confident about what youre doing, the two-time premiership player said.And the 30-year-old recalls all too well the last time he faced Melbourne, when the visitors ruined Corey Enrights 300th game with a shock victory in Geelong last year.It was a really disappointing loss. It stung for a long time. Im sure all the guys whove played a lot of footy with him (Enright) remember that day and how much it hurt, he said.But weve got a really different team now. Melbournes team is quite different and the stakes are different too. ' ' '