Nowitzki hits milestone in Mavericks’ win

NBA: Dirk Nowitzki went over 23,000 career points, Vince Carter had his highest-scoring game in Dallas and the Mavericks stretched their winning streak to four with a 102-76 victory over Milwaukee on Friday night.

Nowitzki became the 23rd NBA player with 23,000 points, hitting that mark when he made a free throw with 7:17 left in the first half. He finished with 11 points, putting him at 23,008, third among active players behind Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett. The next player in line for Nowitzki is Elgin Baylor (23,149).

Carter had 11 of his 16 points in the first 6 1/2 minutes of the game. Jason Terry led Dallas with 17 points, including three 3-pointers.

• Spurs beat Blazers: Tony Parker scored 20 points to help the San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers 99-83 and stay unbeaten at home.

LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 29 points. The Blazers lost for just the second time in the past 10 games against the Spurs. Portland lost center Marcus Camby to a sprained ankle in the loss.

• Bulls thump Celtics: Derrick Rose scored 25 points and the Chicago Bulls held off a second-half charge to beat the Boston Celtics 88-79 in Boston.

The Celtics trimmed a 52-33 halftime deficit to 67-66 on a 3-pointer by Mickael Pietrus with 10 minutes left in the game. Then Boston missed its next two shots, while Rose scored four straight points.

• Heat lose again: Ty Lawson scored 24 and handed out nine assists to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 117-104 win over the Miami Heat in Denver.

LeBron James topped the Heat with 35 points. Miami closed a five-game road trip with three straight losses and has lost 10 straight on the Nuggets’ home floor.

• Bryant sparks Lakers: Kobe Bryant scored 42 points in his third straight 40-point performance, and the Los Angeles Lakers blew a big early lead before hanging on for their fifth straight victory, 97-92 over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Los Angeles.

• Rubio, Love lead Bucks: Kevin Love scored 34 points, Ricky Rubio hit the tiebreaking free throws in his first career start, and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the host New Orleans Hornets 87-80.

Rubio finished with 12 points and nine assists. Love also grabbed 15 rebounds for his 11th consecutive double-double.

• Kings hire English: The Sacramento Kings hired NBA Hall of Famer Alex English as an assistant coach.

English comes to the Kings after spending seven seasons as an assistant coach and director of player development with the Toronto Raptors.

South Florida upsets No. 24 Seton Hall

College basketball: Ron Anderson scored 14 points and helped South Florida (10-8, 3-2 Big East) rally for a 56-55 victory over No. 24 Seton Hall (15-3, 4-2) in Tampa, Fla.

Anderson had six points in a game-ending 14-3 run.

• Duke women victorious: Tricia Liston scored 20 points and No. 7 Duke (13-2, 4-0 ACC) cruised to a 73-66 win over Florida State (10-8, 2-2) in Durham, N.C.

The Blue Devils have won 33 straight games at home.

Crosby skating again, but remains inactive

NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby skated with his teammates for the first time in more than a month, but still has no idea when he’ll be cleared to practice, let alone see action in a game.

Crosby skated for 27 minutes at the end of Pittsburgh’s morning skate.

Later, the Penguins got goals from Evgeni Malkin, Steve Sullivan, Tyler Kennedy and James Neal and snapped a six-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Fla.

• Coyotes vanquished: Derick Brassard had a goal and an assist to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-3 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes in Columbus, Ohio, giving Todd Richards a win in his home debut as interim head coach.

Tomas Kubalik and Ryan Russell each had their first NHL goals for the Blue Jackets.

• Carcillo’s season over: Chicago Blackhawks forward Daniel Carcillo will undergo reconstructive left knee surgery Tuesday, sidelining him for the rest of the year.

• Injury sidelines Carter: The Columbus Blue Jackets placed center Jeff Carter on injured reserve because of a separated shoulder sustained on Sunday.

Every surges to lead at Sony Open

Golf: Matt Every closed with three straight birdies for a 6-under 64, giving him a two-shot lead over Canadian David Hearn in the Sony Open in Honolulu.

Brendon de Jonge and Pat Perez were three shots back, while first-round leader Steve Stricker was five shots back after a 69.

• Rock solid: Robert Rock opened up a one-shot lead at the Joburg Open in Johannesburg before thunderstorms interrupted play for a second straight day.

The Englishman shot a 4-under 67 on the West Course to move to 11-under 132. South African pair Jbe Kruger (66) and Branden Grace (66) were tied for second.

Ageless Evans has shot at Olympics

Miscellany: Janet Evans’ Olympic comeback at age 40 just got serious.

In her first elite-level competition since coming out of retirement, the former U.S. gold medalist and world record holder qualified at the Austin (Texas) Grand Prix for this summer’s Olympic trials in the 400-meter freestyle.

Evans won her preliminary with a time of 4:17.27, easily beating the Olympic trials qualifying standard of 4:19.39.

• Wheldon auction held: An auction dedicated to the late Dan Wheldon raised more than $627,203 that will go to his wife and two young sons.

The final total was released by organizers of the Dan Wheldon Auction. The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner was killed in an accident in the Oct. 16 IndyCar season finale.

• Paterno back in hospital: Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno, 85, is back in the hospital. His family says he was admitted for observation because of minor complications from a treatable form of lung cancer.

• Kostelic tops field: Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic used a surging slalom run to win a World Cup super-combined race in Wengen, Switzerland, edging Swiss skier Beat Feuz and American Bode Miller.

• Azarenka beats Li: Victoria Azarenka of Belarus overcame a second-set lapse to beat 2011 champion Li Na 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 for the Sydney International singles title.

• Ferrer sweeps Rochus: Top-seeded David Ferrer won the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand, for the third time, beating Belgium’s Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-4.