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DALLAS -- Wesley Matthews has taken greater responsibility with Dirk Nowitzki out of the Dallas Mavericks lineup much of this season.Matthews scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half of Dallas 107-82 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.Matthews was the star of the game, obviously, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. He is our leader right now with Dirk out. He really sets the tone for us in the locker room and on the floor. He is just the vocal guy.Matthews has accepted the expanded role as Nowitzki has been limited to five games by a strained right Achilles tendon.I feel like thats one of the reasons why they brought me over here (from Portland). Through this rough patch, injuries and everything, everybody had to mold together. Its almost like we had to restructure ourselves. I think everybody has embraced that.Harrison Barnes scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half to help Dallas improve to 4-15.Chicago was coming off a 111-105 victory over defending champion Cleveland on Friday night.Jimmy Butler led Chicago with 26 points.I dont think anybody played well tonight, Butler said. We didnt play with energy on either end of the floor.Barnes powered the Mavericks to a 17-point first-quarter lead with eight points.They came out and threw the first punch and kept throwing, and we could just never recover from that, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. We did expend a lot of energy (Friday) night.Dwight Powell (17) and rookie Dorian Finney-Smith (11) had career highs in scoring, and Deron Williams had a season-high 15 assists with only one turnover.The biggest thing was we were even (43-43) on the boards, Carlisle said. Andrew Bogut had a game-high 11 rebounds, and Powell grabbed eight.Neither team scored in the first 2:15, but Dallas went on a 7-0 run over the next 1:20. The Mavericks led 23-6 with 3:17 left. The quarter ended with Dallas leading 29-18. Bogut had six points and eight rebounds.Chicago pulled within six points three times in the second quarter, but Dallas finished the first half with a 57-45 lead. In the third quarter, Matthews had 14 points, and the Maverick led by as many as 21 points.TIP-INSBulls: C Robin Lopez has a career-high 11 straight games with 10 or more points. He scored 15 against Dallas. ... F Jimmy Butler has reached 20 points in 17 of 19 games. He scored on a drive with 1:00 left in the third quarter, but was charged with a technical foul for arguing that he had been fouled.Mavericks: G Wesley Matthews made 7 of 11 3-point attempts. ... C Andrew Bogut fouled out, but had 11 rebounds and a season-high eight points. ... The Mavericks 29 first-quarter points were a season high. ... Their largest margin of victory before Saturday was 12 points.WADE RESTSBulls G Dwyane Wade missed his second game this season, both to rest. He stayed in Chicago after Fridays win over Cleveland. Their flight landed in the DFW Metroplex at 2:30 a.m. for the second game in a stretch of four games in five days. Nikola Mirotic started in Wades place and was scoreless in 13 minutes played.NOWITZKI INDEFINITEThe Mavericks said that they no longer will keep a timetable for when F Dirk Nowitzki (strained right Achilles tendon) would play. Instead, his return will be listed as indefinite. He has played in only five games this season.We said Im still a few games away, but luck can change, so I just have to go day by day, Nowitzki said.At this stage in my career, I dont move well anyways, so if Im out there at like 80, 90 percent, I dont think Im a big help, so I want to make sure my bodys responding the right way and well go from there.UP NEXTBulls: Return home to play Portland on Monday night. Chicago won at Portland 113-88 behind Jimmy Butlers 27 points on Nov. 15.Mavericks: Host Charlotte on Monday night in the second game of a four-game homestand. Dallas lost to the Hornets on the road Thursday night.Anthony Davis Jersey . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. Sagbo did well to control Sone Alukos right cross and fire past Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan. Aluko was making his first start in four months after recovering from an Achilles injury. Byron Scott Lakers Jersey . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. http://www.lakersbasketballshop.com/Derek-Fisher-Jersey/ . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Lakers Jersey . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. JaVale McGee Jersey . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods.DENVER -- Bud Black really has no radical or revolutionary ideas about how to reliably pitch in the thin air at Coors Field.Just an age-old concept.You know what works here? Good pitching and making pitches and getting outs, Black said Monday after being introduced as the manager of the Colorado Rockies. Thats what we have to do. I dont think we have to change anybody. Weve got to make guys better. And these guys are pretty good to start with.Black signed a three-year deal to take over for Walt Weiss, who stepped down last month when his contract expired after four years in charge of the Rockies. They finished 75-87 last season, their best record since 2010.The 59-year-old Black is revered for his pitching acumen. Understandably, he views the game through a pitchers eyes and knows this park is filled with difficulties for a staff.Its just a different game here than other spots, Black said. But its still baseball. ... Im not planning anything unconventional. I like the conventional. I like good, solid starting pitching, a good, solid relief core. That works anywhere.Black knows this park well after serving as manager of NL West rival San Diego for 8 + seasons before being fired in June 2015. He compiled a 649-713 record for the Padres and was voted NL Manager of the Year in 2010.With the Rockies, Black inherits a potent offense that includes a batting champion in DJ LeMahieu, sluggers Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez and rising star Trevor Story.Not that hes going to offer them much advice. Instead, hell stick with what he knows best -- pitching.After a major league career that spanned 15 seasons on the mound, Black became a respected pitching coach for the Los Angeles Angels. He brings a wealth of experience to a team thats long struggled to get outs in Denver, which is a mile above sea level.Colorado as a team had a 4.91 ERA last season, tied with Cincinnati for 13th out of 15 National League teams. Arizona (5.09) was the only club that was worse.But the Rockies feature a young and talented rotation led by Jon Gray.The first order of business will be shoring up a bullpen that blew 28 savees last season.dddddddddddd.Were aware of where were at and where we need to get to, said Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich, who also stressed the importance of adding a first baseman. Buds experience and his expertise absolutely adds into that, and lends to us to being better than we have been recently on the bump.Over the years, Colorados kept a close watch on the development of teams such as Kansas City, Cleveland, Houston and St. Louis. Good pitching, clutch hitting, lights-out bullpen -- theyre trying to emulate that sort of blueprint.We try to be in tune with them as much as possible, Bridich said. Theres a difference between talented and good. We have talent. The next step is to become a good team -- a good and consistent team.Bridich interviewed quite a few internal and external candidates before tabbing Black as the seventh manager in franchise history. He got a thumbs-up from owner Dick Monfort, who made a list of eight or nine qualities he wanted to see his next manager embody.I went down that list and checked a lot of them off (with Black), Monfort said. Ive always watched him manage at San Diego. He seems to be a tough guy. He understands the game, obviously has a lot of experience. I think that fits well.On a recent visit to town, Black had a meeting with the Rockies staff in a stadium suite. Hanging on the wall was a picture of Colorado players celebrating with former Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday after he scored the winning run during a 2007 play-in game to beat Black and his Padres. The Rockies rode that wave of momentum all the way to their only World Series appearance.But there was a little bit of controversy about whether Holliday actually touched home plate on his winning slide in the 13th inning. Black weighed in with his opinion.To this day, I dont think hes touched it, joked Black, who posed for pictures Monday right next to home plate. That was a good group. ... Were going to do everything to get back to where this team was in 2007. ' ' '