Harper Back In Dallas

Derek Harper, discarded by the Knicks for salary-cap reasons, will end his career in the same city where it began.

The 34-year-old free-agent point guard reached an agreement in principle to return to the Dallas Mavericks, despite being offered more money by other teams. An official announcement is expected today.

“He hasn’t signed anything yet, but he’s close,” Harper’s agent, George Andrews, said on Thursday. “We have an agreement.”

Harper will ink a reported two-year deal worth approximately $3 million. The Mavs cleared $1.3 million in salary-cap room on Tuesday by trading forward Popeye Jones to Toronto.

A special tribunal cleared the way for a malpractice suit brought by the widow of former Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis against a cardiologist who treated him before he died.

The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, will proceed against Dr. Gilbert Mudge Jr., a Brigham and Women’s Hospital cardiologist who treated Lewis.

Donna Harris-Lewis claims that Mudge was negligent in telling Lewis he could play again. Her lawyer, Bridget Assaro, said Lewis’s death was preventable.

Former New York Knicks forward Anthony Mason is scheduled to appear in criminal court on Aug. 14 to face charges in connection with an early morning confrontation with police in the Times Square area Wednesday night.

Mason was arraigned for allegedly throwing punches at police officers when they tried to issue him a parking ticket.

He was charged with three felony counts of second degree assault and misdemeanor charges of menacing and resisting arrest. He was released on $2,500 cash bail.