Sports in brief: Winless Nets set record for futility

NBA: The New Jersey Nets were pounded into NBA infamy Wednesday night, falling 117-101 to the Dallas Mavericks in East Rutherford, N.J., for their 18th straight loss to start the season.

The Mavericks made 17 of 19 shots and opened a 27-point lead in a nearly flawless second quarter, burying the Nets early.

The Nets passed the 1988-89 Miami Heat and 1999 Los Angeles Clippers, who both dropped their first 17 games. New Jersey’s next chance to end the streak comes Friday at home against Charlotte.

Dallas shot 81 percent in the first half, the first NBA team to make 80 percent of its shots in a half since the Denver Nuggets hit 82 percent against the Clippers on April 4, 2006.

•Thunder extend Sixers’ skid: Kevin Durant scored 33 points, Nick Collison added 18 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder handed the Philadelphia 76ers their eighth straight loss, 117-106 in Oklahoma City.

•Wizards edge Bucks: Earl Boykins scored 11 of his 13 points in the final 10 minutes, including the winning free throws with 1 second left, to lead the Washington Wizards to a 104-102 win over the Mil- waukee Bucks in Washington.

•Iverson returns to Philly: Allen Iverson’s first stint with the Philadelphia 76ers ended with the team yanking his nameplate off his locker and editing him out of video highlights before he was even traded.

The Sixers might want to find him a new locker and cue up some clips. A.I. is a Sixer again.

In a move that appeared farfetched after their acrimonious split in 2006, the 76ers reunited with the briefly retired Iverson in a move designed to spike sagging attendance and fill in for the injured Lou Williams.

Coach Eddie Jordan said Iverson likely will start and stay the entire season.

•Artest drank during games: Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest has said that he drank alcohol during games when he was a member of the Chicago Bulls.

“I used to drink Hennessy at halftime,” Artest said in an interview with Sporting News. “I (kept it) in my locker. I’d just walk to the liquor store (near the stadium) and get it.”

Artest also said that he was a “head case” when he broke into the NBA with the Bulls in 1999.

Weiss leads Panthers to shootout win

NHL: Stephen Weiss recorded his second NHL hat trick and scored in the shootout to lift the Florida Panthers to a 6-5 win over the Colorado Avalanche in Sunrise, Fla.

•Wild win in OT: Andrew Ebbett’s rebound shot in overtime gave the Minnesota Wild a 5-4 win over the visiting Nashville Predators at St. Paul, Minn.

•Bruins thump Lightning: Marc Savard scored his 200th career goal and Marco Sturm scored twice in a 2:33 span to lead the Boston Bruins to a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Boston.

•Canucks romp: Henrik and Daniel Sedin had a hand in three first-period goals, and Roberto Luongo made 27 saves as the Vancouver Canucks beat the New Jersey Devils 5-2 in Newark, N.J.

Wisconsin upsets sixth-ranked Duke

College basketball: Trevon Hughes scored 19 of his career-high 26 points in the second half and Wisconsin (5-1) held on to beat No. 6 Duke (6-1) 73-69 in Madison, Wis., snapping the Blue Devils’ perfect record in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

•Illinois knocks off No. 18 Clemson: Mike Tisdale hit the go-ahead jumper with 41 seconds left then blocked David Potter’s driving shot on No. 18 Clemson’s next possession as Illinois (5-2) rallied from 23 points down for a 76-74 victory over the Tigers (6-2) in Clemson, S.C.

•Wisconsin-Green Bay women post upset: Julie Wojta scored 25 points as the Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (6-0) women rolled to a 79-68 upset win over the 21st-ranked DePaul Blue Demons (5-2) in Green Bay, Wis.

Ward apologizes to rest of Steelers

NFL: Hines Ward’s apology to Ben Roethlisberger was extended to the rest of the Steelers.

Pittsburgh’s veteran receiver said at a team meeting that he regretted creating a distraction when he questioned why a concussion had kept Roethlisberger from playing against Baltimore on Sunday.

Ward already had apologized to Roethlisberger on Monday. Ward wasn’t aware a team doctor had advised the quarterback not to play because of a post-concussion headaches that followed each of the team’s three practices last week.

•Westbrook still out: Brian Westbrook remains sidelined with a concussion and DeSean Jackson’s status for Philadel- phia’s game at Atlanta is uncertain after he sustained a head injury.

•Turner doesn’t practice: Atlanta Falcons RB Michael Turner sat out practice but isn’t giving up on playing in a crucial game against the Eagles.

•Lewis placed on IR: Jamal Lewis has plowed into the line for the last time.

Cleveland’s punishing running back, who planned to retire following this season, was placed on injured reserve with post-concussion symptoms.

MLB players want longer first round

Miscellany: Get ready for more postseason baseball games – and fewer off days.

Players would like to see the first round of playoffs expand to best-of-7 when their next labor contract starts in 2012, new union head Michael Weiner said.

The first round has been best-of-5 since it began in 1995.

•WADA launches guidelines: The World Anti-Doping Agency launched new guidelines on how to monitor athletes’ blood profiles for evidence of cheating.

The WADA executive committee ratified the guidelines for the “athlete biological passport” system that has been under consideration since 2002.