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DALLAS -- Wesley Matthews shot the Dallas Mavericks back into the win column.Matthews scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, including eight during a rally that gave Dallas the lead for good, and the Mavericks beat the New Orleans Pelicans 91-81 on Sunday night to end an eight-game losing streak.Im never worried about my shot, Matthews said. I know the time I put into it. I know the confidence that I have, and I know the team has confidence in me.He made all four field goal attempts, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, in the fourth quarter.Matthews made a 3-pointer and another basket to give Dallas a 72-71 edge with 5:39 remaining. New Orleans regained the lead on Anthony Davis two free throws, but for the last time because Matthews made another 3-pointer.His shot-making in the fourth was huge, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. He popped the game open and gave us some separation.He has an iron will. He just stayed into it.Dallas improved to 3-13, still the NBAs worst record.Games like that, a couple of weeks ago we would have hung our heads, let a lead slip and let the team slip, Matthews said. But we held our ground, we stayed firm.Harrison Barnes led the Mavericks with 23 points. Justin Anderson scored 14 off the bench.The Pelicans, who lost eight straight to begin the season, fell to 6-12.They outplayed us. They deserved to win. Thats the thought. Thats all that needs to be said, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said.Davis, who had 36 points and 13 rebounds, was more expansive.We werent doing what our game plan was, he said. Harrison and Wes got a couple shots. It was our defense that killed us tonight.Jrue Holiday had 17 points and six assists for New Orleans.Neither team led by more than two points during the games first 10 minutes. Dallas had an 11-0 run to go from trailing 17-15 to a 26-17 lead.Davis scored 13 of New Orleans first 17 points, including 10 in a row.Dallas led 44-42 at halftime, and the game was tied at 60-all after three quarters.In the fourth, Holiday gave the Pelicans their biggest lead, six points at 68-62, with two 3-pointers.TIP-INSPelicans: They made all 12 free throws in the first three quarters, but Davis missed two of six in the fourth. . The Pelicans were without F Dante Cunningham (fractured right fibula) and G/F Tyreke Evans (right knee injury). New Orleans recalled F Cheick Diallo from Austin of the D-League, but he did not play.Mavericks: The 10-point winning margin was the largest lead in the game. . After shooting 38 percent from the floor in the first three quarters, Dallas was 10 for 17 (58 percent) in the fourth. The 3-point shooting improved from 25 to 67 percent (4 for 6).NOWITZKI OUTF Dirk Nowitzki (strained right Achilles tendon) did not play. He played in Dallas previous two games, but has missed 11 of their 16 games this season.Getting him better is going to have to take it incrementally, Carlisle said. Its not as if there was any great setback. Its not the right thing to play him tonight.UP NEXTPelicans: Return home to play the Lakers on Tuesday. New Orleans lost at home to Los Angeles 126-99 on Nov. 12 to fall to 1-9.Mavericks: Finish a brief two-game homestand on Wednesday against the Spurs. The Mavericks lost 96-91 at San Antonio on Nov. 21. Pittsburgh Penguins Shirts . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. Fake Penguins Jerseys . -- Whether Jeremy Hill deserves a prominent role in LSUs offence this early in the season is a matter for debate. https://www.cheappenguinsjersey.com/ . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. Pittsburgh Penguins Store . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Wholesale Penguins Jerseys .875,000, avoiding arbitration. Clippards deal Monday means all eight Nationals players who filed for arbitration wound up settling before a hearing.Alex Hammond supplied us with the big-race winner Profitable last week. Can the Sky Sports News HQ racing expert do it again? Awtaad lowered the colours of Galileo Gold on Saturday but do you think he would come out on top if the pair met again?Awtaad was impressive wasnt he? He seems the complete racehorse as he has a great attitude, loads of speed and tons of ability. Id like to be on him when the pair next face off thats for sure. Its fair to say Frankie Dettori had to sit and suffer on Galileo Gold whereas Chris Hayes was able to ride the race he wanted to on the winner, but regardless of that I think the Irish Guineas winner has the edge. Awtaad has now won his last four starts and is improving at a rate of knots and if the pair meet in the St Jamess Palace Stakes Id rather be on the Kevin Prendergast-trained colt; he looks by far the most straightforward of the two. He is currently 3/1 with Sky Bet for the one-mile Group One at the Royal meeting whereas Galileo Gold is 9/2. They may both have to play second fiddle to The Gurkha regardless - his performance in France looked very impressive. Skiffle won the Height Of Fashion Stakes at Goodwood and now looks like being supplemented for the Investec Oaks but do you think that is the right move and is Minding vulnerable after her defeat on Sunday?We thought the three-year-old fillies looked much superior to the colts, but the Oaks door has been left ajar after the defeat of Minding behind Jet Setting in the Irish 1000 Guineas. Minding is still favourite for the Epsom Classic, but has now been pushed out to 6/5 with Sky Bet. Its probable that the incident as the gates opened that saw her bang her head had a bearing on the outcome of the race and its also true that the ground was testing enough for her at the Curragh, but with the doubt over her stamina for the mile and a half at Epsom I can see why other trainers are happy to try to take her on. The Height Of Fashion (formerly the Lupe) is a race that has had an influence on the Oaks in the past and Skiffle has been introduced at 10/1 with Sky Bet for Epsom. Charlie Applebys filly is improving fast and as this was only her second outing youd have to expect further improvement. She completely cocked up the start on debut, rearing and missing the break, but she was much more savvy at Goodwood and I can see the attraction of adding her to the Oaks field. She is guaranteed to stay, being a daughter of Dubawi out of a mare that was useful up to 1m4f and is a half sister to a horse that was also effective over middle distances. So a lots of ticks there and lets be honest, the £30,000 itll cost to add her to the field isnt going to make a dent in the Sheikh Mohammed coffers!Has anything else caught your eye for Epsom following Breakfast With The Stars on Tuesday and if you had to have one ante-post bet at this stage, what would it be? Well, much of the talk after Breakfast With The Stars was of the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Ulysses. Sir Michael isnt usually one to give much away, but he has spoken well of this beautifully bred colt who has now shortened into 8/1 with Sky Bet for the Derby. He had one run at two, going into winter quarters with an encouraging sixth in a mile maiden at Newbury behind Algometer. That horse has gone on at three and has some decent form so far, including a second place to Midterm in Sandowns Classic Trial and winning a Listed race at Goodwood. Ulysses reappeared this term in a hot Leicester maiden finishing second and then got off the mark in a 10-furlong Newbury maiden earlier this month. So, back to that pedigree; hes by Galileo who won the English and Irish Derbies in 2001 and is out of a mare called Light Shift, who won the Oaks at Epsom for Sir Henry Cecil in 2007. Derby pedigrees surely dont get much better than that and Andrea Atzeni will ride him in the big race. I also have plenty of respect for Cloth Of Stars who motored round the course on Tuesday morning and is trained by Andre Fabre. He is 7/1 third favourite and needs to be supplemented at a cost of £75,000.Clive Cox has another smart sprinter on his hands in Profitable, is the Temple Stakes winner on your radar for Royal Ascot?How pleased was I to see Profitable earn followers of the blog a few quid on Saturday?! Delighted! Meccas Angel was being supported as if defeat was out of the question after the rain had turned the ground in her favour; but I was screaming home Clive Coxs four-year-old and my prayers were answered. As predicted, he has improved for another winter on his back and looks a force to be reckoned with this season.dddddddddddd Granted he carried Meccas Angel across the track in the final furlong, but no momentum was lost and the stewards decided it hadnt made a difference. I was sure Profitable needed a bit of ease in the ground, but his trainer said afterwards he thinks he will be even better on a quicker surface. This is great news for his likely Royal Ascot aspirations and going forward for the rest of the season as he is clearly versatile on that front. Hes now 8/1 co second favourite for the Kings Stand next month and as a sprinter on the upgrade, I wouldnt be disappointed if I had an ante-post voucher in my clutches.Theres another big card at Haydock this weekend, what should we be backing?Well, after last weekend Haydock is my new favourite track, so lets try and find another winner or two! There are three Group races that should be pretty competitive. The Group Two Sandy Lane Stakes is the feature with a strong entry for the six-furlong contest. Classic winning trainer Hugo Palmer could have a good day at the Lancashire track and his Gifted Master is clear favourite on the ante-post book. At 2/1 with Sky Bet though I think we can find a bit more value elsewhere. Having said that, he hasnt seen the back of another horse since last June and despite being a bit quirky is clearly very talented. He is already 6/1 second favourite for the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot. A few of his rivals on Saturday could also have the Royal Ascot race on their radar, including Buratino, who is dropping back in trip having failed to stay a mile in the 2000 Guineas. He also has the beating of Air Force Blue as a juvenile when winning the Coventry. Remarkable went into a few notebooks when runner up to Log Out Island in a Listed race at Newbury this month and John Gosdens son of Pivotal looks a horse on the up. At 9/1 for Saturdays race, he could run a good race if the forecast rain arrives. La Rioja is another unexposed likely improver at three. Henry Candys filly hasnt run yet this season, but was a Group Three winner at Salisbury on her last start. She is another horse that will need the rain to fall. Jim Bolgers Smash Williams is potentially a very nice horse too. He is one of a strong entry for Irish-trained horses and looked exciting as a juvenile. Its a very good renewal of the race and I dont have a really strong view at the moment, but if the rain comes then Ill be backing Remarkable to cause an upset.Then we have two Group Three races to look forward to, the Pinnacle Stakes for fillies and mares over an extended 1m3f, and the Timeform Jury Stakes over seven furlongs. Last years winner Miss Marjurie is among the entries for the Pinnacle Stakes and trainer Denis Coakley has snapped up the services of Oisin Murphy. However, last year she won a Listed race at Goodwood en-route to this, but was disappointing in the same race this time round. The powerful combination of John Gosden and Frankie Dettori look like they will be hard to beat here with Journey. She wasnt disgraced in finishing third to Beautiful Romance and Koora in the Middleton Stakes at Yorks Dante meeting and a reproduction of that will be good enough here. She just ran a bit free at York and that may have cost her but the fillies that finished in front of her that day are top class and it doesnt look like theres anything of that quality entered at Haydock.The Timeform Jury Stakes looks more open and has attracted a strong entry. Home Of The Brave represents trainer Hugo Palmer and is Sky Bets ante-post favourite at 9/2. He was snapped up by Godolphin after his reappearance win at Leicester last month, but was unable to represent his new owners in the Lockinge Stakes after the ground turned too soft. There is plenty to recommend him providing Haydock dont get too much rain before Saturday. William Haggas horses are running well and his Adaay is another for the shortlist. He was a bit disappointing over a mile on his return to action at Sandown last time out, but I think a drop back to seven will be just the job and on the best of his form he is right up there with a big shout. He won the Sandy Lane Stakes on this card last year beating Limato, which is very good form. Unlike Home Of The Brave he wont mind a drop of moisture in the ground and at this stage hell do for me. Also See: Live results service Full racecards Get Sky Sports ' ' '