MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Dallas Mavericks have struggled at times this season to close out. They didnt let that happen against the Memphis Grizzlies. Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points, Brandan Wright added 17 and the Mavericks used a second-half surge to grab a 110-96 victory over Memphis on Wednesday night. "Weve obviously had a little trouble sometimes finishing games with leads, especially on the road," said Nowitzki, who was 10 of 14 from the field, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. "Teams are putting pressure on us and really getting into us, and we havent really responded well to that. But (against the Grizzlies) I thought we were solid." Samuel Dalembert and Monta Ellis had 14 points apiece and Dalembert added 10 rebounds. Vince Carter had 13 points and seven assists to help the Mavericks win their third straight game. Zach Randolph scored 25 points for Memphis, while Courtney Lee finished with 22. James Johnson added 17 and Nick Calathes scored 16 starting his third game in place of injured starting point guard Mike Conley. Dallas began its rally in the closing minutes of the third quarter and carried it into the fourth, eventually leading by as many as 17. The Mavericks are eighth in the Western Conference, two games ahead of the Grizzlies for the last playoff spot. Dallas also assured itself of winning the season series with its third win over Memphis this season. "If we would have won it, we would still be able to make the playoffs. If we lose, it doesnt change anything," said Memphis centre Marc Gasol, who had 12 points. "We have a lot of games left. . Of course, we would like to win every game, but if you lose, you move on. If you win, you move on. Theres no other way around it." The Mavericks dominated the paint, holding a 56-32 advantage in points and 35-32 edge on the glass. "To get 40, 50 points in the paint on them is impressive," Nowitzki said. "It means we were driving the ball and sharing. . Anytime we hold our own on the boards with this team and almost double them on points in the paint, thats a fantastic job for us." Memphis led 55-52 at halftime after having a basket taken away by a clock malfunction at the end of the half. Ellis scored with 10.1 seconds left, and on the ensuing Memphis possession Johnson appeared to hit a layup with less than a second left. But the clock didnt start properly following Ellis basket, and officials ruled that if it had, Johnson would not have gotten the shot off in time. "In the first half, we didnt defend very well," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "We knew we were going to play better in the second half." The Mavericks took their first lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Nowitzki early in the third period, but then the game settled into poor shooting on both sides. The result was a quarter with six ties and three lead changes. Dallas broke a 71-all tie by closing the period with a 7-1 push for a 78-72 lead. That started a 14-3 Mavericks rally spanning the quarters. When Wright converted a 3-point play with 8:27 left, Dallas had stretched the lead to 14 points. The Mavericks 110 points snapped a Memphis string of seven games during which the Grizzlies had not allowed an opponent to surpass 90 points. "They always have five guys on the floor that you have to guard, and they can all shoot," Memphis coach Dave Joerger said. "I did a poor job at getting us ready against the multiple action pick-and-rolls that they ran. "Defensively, we were awful." NOTES: It took 7 minutes after the teams left the floor at halftime for officials to review the final play before disallowing Johnsons basket. ... Mavericks F Shawn Marion returned after missing two games with shoulder and rib contusions and had eight points. ... Calathes, who hadnt committed a turnover in the last two games starting for Conley, had six turnovers. ... Nowitzki has five straight games with at least 23 points. Kurt Rambis Lakers Jersey . According to Tony Barrett of The Times, the Liverpool captain is set to announce that he will leave the club at the end of the 2014-15 season. LeBron James Lakers Jersey . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. http://www.lakersbasketballshop.com/Nick-Van-Exel-Jersey/ . First-half goals by Will Bruin and Oscar Boniek Garcia sucked the life out of the Impact as the Houston Dynamo bounced them from Major League Soccers post-season with a 3-0 victory on Thursday. LeBron James Jersey .com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday. Derek Fisher Jersey . Felix Pie had an RBI double earlier in the inning, as Baltimore rallied for three runs to overcome a 3-2 deficit. J.J. Hardy had two hits and Matt Wieters chipped in with an RBI double for the Orioles, who pushed their winning streak to three games.LONDON - West Ham ended Newcastles run of five straight Premier League victories on Saturday, edging past the Magpies 1-0 at Upton Park.A 56th-minute ball into the box from West Hams standout performer Cheikhou Kayoute fell to left back Aaron Cresswell, who managed to slip the ball past Newcastle goalkeeper Robert Elliot.The visitors went down to 10 men when Newcastles Moussa Sissoko was sent off in the 76th minute for two yellow cards in the space of two minutes — the first for kicking the ball away and the second for an aggressive challenge on Andy Carroll.West Ham climbed to fifth with 21 points, two more than Newcastle.I think its a massive victory for us today, West Ham manager Sam Allardyce said. At the moment were playing above expectations.After a slow start to the season for Newcastle, Alan Pardews team has been in blistering form — conceding only one goal in its winning run.ddddddddddddWe would have liked to make more opportunities, but the application of the team, the balance of the team was good, Newcastle manager Alan Pardew said, but unfortunately today we came up short.Results havent matched strong performances recently for the Hammers, which was still missing influential trio of Alex Song, Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho through injury, and defender James Tomkins through suspension.Newcastle looked dangerous from the outset with Ayoze Perez, a summer bargain from Tenerife, looking especially sharp.The 21-year-old Spanish striker gave West Hams James Collins a torrid time, regularly jaunting past the defender but ultimately fading after being unable to add to his three-goal tally for the season. ' ' '