Nowitzki, Dallas have L.A. on ropes

NBA: Dirk Nowitzki scored 32 points, Jason Terry had 23 and Peja Stojakovic scored 11 of his 15 in the fourth quarter, rallying the host Dallas Mavericks to a 98-92 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night that puts the two-time defending champions on the brink of elimination.

Dallas trailed by seven points with 5:05 left and was getting shredded inside by a new-look Lakers lineup featuring three big men. Then Nowitzki and Stojakovic hit 3-pointers, jump-starting an 18-6 rally that turned around the game.

Dallas leads 3-0, and no team in NBA history has lost after taking such a lead. Dallas goes for the sweep Sunday.

• Rose scores career-high 44 to lead Bulls past Hawks: Derrick Rose looked every bit like an MVP, slicing up Atlanta for a career-high 44 points as the Chicago Bulls seized control of the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 99-82 romp over the host Hawks in Game 3.

Jeff Teague had 21 points for Atlanta. The Bulls lead the series 2-1 heading into Game 4 Sunday night.

Red Wings stave off elimination with win

NHL: Darren Helm scored with 1:27 left in the third period, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to an elimination- avoiding 4-3 win over the visiting San Jose Sharks in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal series.

Nicklas Lidstrom scored twice in the first period to help Detroit take a three-goal lead that it let slip away before Helm put Detroit back ahead for good, scoring off a cross-ice pass from Patrick Eaves.

• Lucic leads Bruins to sweep of Flyers: Milan Lucic scored twice, Johnny Boychuk got the go-ahead goal, and the host Boston Bruins skated to a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers that completed a sweep of the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Bruins will face the Tampa Bay Lightning for the conference championship.

Plum Pretty wins Kentucky Oaks title

Horse racing: Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s blossoming filly Plum Pretty took charge at the top of the stretch and then held off a late bid from St. John’s River to win the $1 million Kentucky Oaks in Louisville, Ky.

Plum Pretty up a sizable lead and needed all of it to beat St. John’s River and jockey Rose Napravnik by a neck in the 1 1/8-mile race. Zazu finished third, just ahead of 2-1 favorite Joyful Victory.

Kahne wins pole, sets Darlington record

NASCAR: Kasey Kahne won the pole for today’s Southern 500 with record run at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, his fourth career pole in nine starts at the track.

Kahne had a fast lap of 181.254 mph, surpassing the mark of 180.370 Jamie McMurray set a year ago.

Kahne will be joined on the front row by Ryan Newman. Defending race champion Denny Hamlin was third, Carl Edwards fourth and Jeff Gordon fifth.

• Kyle Busch races to Nationwide win: Kyle Busch finally broke through to win a Nationwide Series race at Darlington Raceway after near misses the past two years.

Busch moved past Elliott Sadler 23 laps from the end and stayed in front of Denny Hamlin to win the Royal Purple 200, his fifth Nationwide win this season and 48th overall.

Sadler was third, series points leader Justin Algaier fourth and Steve Wallace fifth.

Canada downs United States in shootout

Miscellany: Jordan Eberle and Rick Nash scored in a shootout to lift Canada to a 4-3 victory over the United States in the second round of the ice hockey world championships in Kosice, Slovakia.

Canada goalie James Reimer made 17 saves and stopped Jack Johnson and Blake Wheeler in the shootout. Ty Conklin made 49 saves for the U.S. Canada outshot the U.S. 52-20.

The U.S. faces France today in a must-win game.

• Winterhawks top Ice in Game 1 of WHL finals: Ty Rattie’s tip-in at 55 seconds of overtime lifted the host Portland Winterhawks to a 4-3 victory over the Kootenay Ice in Game 1 of the Western Hockey League playoff finals.

Sven Bartschi gave the Winterhawks 1-0 and 2-1 leads, but Hayden Rintoul and Joe Antilla each tallied equalizers for Kootenay.

• Nadal, Federer, Djokovic advance to Madrid semifinals: Rafael Nadal set up a Madrid Open showdown with Roger Federer for the third straight year, beating Michael Llodra 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Federer then beat Robin Soderling 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Novak Djokovic stretched his perfect 2011 start to 30 matches, beating David Ferrer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Djokovic will face Thomaz Bellucci, a 7-6 (2), 6-3 winner over Tomas Berdych.

Perez powers way to lead at Quail Hollow

Golf: Pat Perez birdied five of the last six holes and finished at 7-under 65 for a two-shot lead over Bill Haas (70) and Jonathan Byrd (68) at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C.

Perez sits at 12-under 132. Phil Mickelson (66) and Lucas Glover (68) are three back.

Alex Prugh (Ferris, UW) shot a round of 4-under 68 to make the cut at 1-under.

• Calcavecchia takes lead at Regions Tradition: Mark Calcavecchia surged to a three-shot lead in the Regions Tradition with a 7-under 65 in the second round at Shoal Creek in Birmingham, Ala.

Kenny Perry matched Calcavecchia’s 65 and sits with a two-day total of 8-under 136. Jay Haas (68) and Michael Allen (67) are tied for third, four strokes back.