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DALLAS -- LeBron James drove for an emphatic dunk during a decisive fourth-quarter run and went skipping to the bench after a Dallas timeout. The Miami star has sure had fun against his old nemesis this season. James scored a season-high 42 points and the Heat tuned up for a showdown with Oklahoma City by beating the Mavericks 117-106 Tuesday night. The 10-time All-Star was nearly impossible to stop in the first game after the break, topping his previous season high of 39 points in a win over Dallas in Miami in November. This victory completed Miamis third straight season sweep of the Mavericks -- six consecutive wins -- since losing to them in the 2011 NBA Finals, James first season after his celebrated signing with the Heat. "He is great and we know he is great," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "He scored a bundle of points on us last time and he was even better tonight." James scored the first eight points and 10 overall in a 14-0 run that put the Heat up 106-95 after they trailed by one entering the fourth quarter. Miami came out of the All-Star break by winning for the sixth time in seven games heading into James duel with Kevin Durant on Thursday night in Oklahoma City. Its the last game of the Heats second six-game road trip, a season high. "Im still tired," said James, who had 22 points in 33 minutes in Sundays All-Star game. "But when Im on the court, Ive got to try to make things happen." Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points to lead the Mavericks, who couldnt follow up a win at Indiana, the other top team in the Eastern Conference, in their final game before the break. The deciding run started when James, who also had nine rebounds and six assists, stole a pass from Shawn Marion in the backcourt and pulled up for a tying 3-pointer. After hitting another 3 over Marion to put Miami ahead for good, James drove for a dunk following Mario Chalmers steal of a pass from Devin Harris. James made four of eight from long range after getting warmed up with a couple of dunks in the first quarter. "When we turned it over, he was gone," Marion said. "After his fourth open-court dunk, the basket started feeling a little bit bigger for him. He just started taking pull-up 3s." The Mavericks, who are in a tight battle with four teams for the final three playoff spots in the West, went without a field goal for 6 minutes after a four-point play by Vince Carter, who scored 15. Dallas missed seven shots and had three turnovers while Miami pulled away. "We played hard the whole night," Carlisle said. "We tried to keep it going and get some traction, but we had some untimely struggles. Lets put it that way." Chris Bosh scored 22 for Miami and Dwyane Wade had 13 after missing the final two games before the break with a foot problem. Chris Andersen scored a season-high 18, including his second 3-pointer of the season for Miamis final points. Chalmers had 10 points and nine assists for the Heat. "When Bird is playing like that, we are so much more of a dynamic team," Wade said of Andersen. "When Bron is driving, he can see over the defence and he can find Bird for a lot of those lobs." James scored 19 points in an entertaining first half that included an alley-oop dunk on a pass from near midcourt by Wade, a breakaway slam and the buzz of anticipation for another alley-oop that instead was a simple layup from Chalmers when Monta Ellis, the lone defender, chose to guard James. Early on, the Mavericks looked primed for the only visit of the season from the two-time defending champions. Nowitzki was on pace for a triple-double in the first half with nine points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Harris found Brandan Wright with a fancy pass for a running dunk that was thrown straight down, barely making a ripple in the net. Nowitzki finished with nine rebounds and seven assists. NOTES: Fans about 10 rows from the court were briefly distracted from the entertaining first half when two men were led out of the arena in handcuffs after an apparent fight early in the second quarter. ... The crowd included four of the Dallas Cowboys biggest stars: QB Tony Romo, TE Jason Witten, WR Dez Bryant and RB DeMarco Murray. Tom Johnson Authentic Jersey . "First, I would like to offer my deepest and sincerest apologies for any harm I have inflicted on University of Missouri defensive lineman, Michael Sam," the statement read. John Sullivan Jersey . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. http://www.officialvikings.us.com/Black-Everson-Gr...ersey.h tml . Not exactly bursting with sentimental feelings, Matthew Lombardi makes an odd return to the state of Tennessee on Thursday night. Marcus Sherels Jersey . 1 and No. 2 in womens golf at the World Ladies Championship. Park closed with a 6-under 67 for a five-shot victory over Suzann Pettersen in a Ladies European Tour event. Chad Greenway Jersey . -- Amid stories about Jeremy Lin and the upcoming all-star game, the Detroit Pistons have quietly become one of the hottest teams in the NBA. ATLANTA -- Freddie Freeman heard fans calling his name and, with dark clouds moving in, he knew the grounds crew had just removed the cover from the infield tarp. What better time for a game-winning hit? Freemans single to the centre-field wall scored Jason Heyward from second base with two outs in the 10th inning on Sunday, lifting the Atlanta Braves to a 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds. "You live for moments like that when you want to be a big league player," Freeman said. "You hear the crowd chanting your name and you want to come through. So it was a pretty cool moment." Freemans big hit saved the game from an almost certain wait through bad weather. "I was like, Yes, we dont have to go to any more innings and we wont have a rain delay," Freeman said. "We were all thinking about it." Sure enough, minutes after the postgame celebration ended on the field, a thunderstorm brought lightning and heavy rain to Turner Field. Cincinnatis Johnny Cueto and Atlantas Julio Teheran were spectacular. Each allowed only three hits in eight scoreless innings before giving way to relievers. "It was a great game," Cueto said through a translator. "We both competed. Things went good for us, him and me." Cueto struck out 11. He has allowed only one run in his last three starts, leaving him with a 1.15 ERA. Teheran also has given up just one run in his last three starts. His 1.47 ERA has helped the Braves starters lead the majors with their 1.57 mark. "He just keeps getting better and better," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. With two outs in the 10th, Heyward hit a single up the middle off J.J. Hoover (1-3). B.J. Upton followed with a grounder that bounced off Hoovers glove toward shortstop for an infield hit. "I thought I had it and it kind of hit a second gear and just tipped out of my glove," Hoover said. Left-hander Manny Parra was summoned to face Freeman, who hit a second-pitch fastball for a drive that bounced on the warning track beyond centre fielder Billy Hamiltons reach. Braves players swarmed Freeman at second base following Atlantas first three-game sweep of the Reds since 2008. Freeman tried to duck from the swarm of congratulaatory slaps and swats.dddddddddddd "I got hit from every angle, but its always a good feeling," he said. The Reds couldnt take advantage of a scoring opportunity in the 10th. Ryan Ludwick hit a one-out single off David Carpenter and moved to second on Zack Cozarts two-out single. Pitcher Mike Leake pinch-ran for Ludwick at second base. Atlanta left-hander Ian Thomas (1-0) ended the threat by getting pinch-hitter Roger Bernadina to pop up. Cueto, coming off back-to-back, complete-game wins over Pittsburgh, finished one strikeout away from his career high of 12 set April 16 against the Pirates. Teheran struck out five and walked two. Jordan Walden maintained the impressive pitching by recording two strikeouts in a perfect ninth. Reds manager Bryan Price and pitcher Homer Bailey were ejected in the first inning after a replay ruling went against them. Price asked for a replay after first-base umpire Greg Gibson called Upton safe on a pickoff throw from Johnny Cueto. The replays shown on the video board indicated first baseman Joey Votto may have applied the tag before Upton reached the bag. Price came back out of the dugout after the ruling that the call stands, meaning there was not "clear and convincing" evidence to overturn it. Price was ejected by crew chief Bill Miller, the second-base umpire. Miller also tossed Bailey, who argued from the Reds dugout. "In the end, you have the biggest Jumbotron in the country out there in centre field that would strongly suggest that the runner was out on the pickoff," Price said. "And then to say that hes not seems to contradict what everyone in the ballpark thought was an out. I didnt get it. It didnt make any sense to me." NOTES: The Reds, playing their first extra-inning game of the season, completed a 5-5 road trip. ... RHP Alfredo Simon will face Cubs RHP Jeff Samardzija on Monday in Cincinnati. ... The Braves are off on Monday before beginning a series at Miami on Tuesday when LHP Alex Wood will face RHP Jose Fernandez. ... The ejections were the first for the Reds since Brandon Phillips on Sept. 1, 2012 at Houston. The last Reds manager to be ejected was Dusty Baker on Aug. 28, 2011. ' ' '
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