(SportsNetwork. Jeremy Lauzon Jersey .com) - The Dallas Mavericks will try to break into the win column Thursday night when they hold their home opener against the Utah Jazz at American Airlines Center. The Mavs began the campaign in San Antonio on Tuesday night. On the evening the Spurs received their championship rings and hung a fifth banner, the Mavs played well, but came up a little short. The Spurs prevailed, 101-100, when Tony Parker made the go-ahead 3-pointer with a little over a minute left in the contest. I loved a lot of the things about the way we played, and it was a great basketball game, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. I mean, you cant kick off the season with a better game than this for the fans. Theres no way. Unfortunately, the slim margins or winning and losing are all that anybody remembers. You know, if we get one more stop or one more basket, then were all in here singing a different tune. Monta Ellis paced the Mavs with 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting and Dirk Nowitzki added 18 points with six boards in the setback. Devin Harris scored 17 off the bench. The Mavericks unveiled three new starters on Tuesday - center Tyson Chandler, who actually won a title in Dallas in 2011, point guard Jameer Nelson and forward Chandler Parsons. The trio struggled a bit as they combined for 22 points. Parsons especially had a rough go of it when he shot 2-for-10 from the floor. Dallas signed J.J. Barea on Wednesday, bringing back the former Mavericks guard, who was with the team his first five seasons in the league. He spent the last three seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves before being let go. The Jazz played hard in Quin Snyders debut as head coach Wednesday night. They fell to the Houston Rockets, 104-93, in Salt Lake City at EnergySolutions Arena. Alec Burks led the Jazz with 18 points, while Derrick Favors deposited 16 points with seven rebounds and Trey Burke added 15 points in the setback. Trevor Booker scored 14 off the bench and center Enes Kanter tallied 10 points in the loss. Dante Exum, the fifth pick in this summers draft, scored five points on 2- for-3 shooting, but only played 9:37. We did have some open looks, but it just didnt feel like there was a really good flow to the game for us offensively, except for that one period in the third where we got some good stuff off our defense and found a little juice, said Snyder. The Jazz trailed by 13 in the third quarter, but Burke scored six points to help Utah close the period on a 10-0 run. Houston pulled away for the win in the fourth. The Mavericks have won five in a row against the Jazz, including a regular- season sweep in 2013-14 (4-0). Utah has dropped seven straight and 12 of its last 13 in Big D. Brad Marchand Jersey . LOUIS -- Julius Randle had 19 points and 15 rebounds, Aaron Harrison finished with 18 points and No. Noel Acciari Jersey .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday. http://www.thebostonbruinshockey.com/kevan-miller-hockey-jersey/ . Various media outlets, including the Detroit Free Press, indicate a deal is close, while USA Today cited an unidentified person directly involved with the negotiations as saying the pact is for two years.SURREY, B.C. -- The BC Lions expect to regain key linebacker Solomon Elimimian and veteran kicker Paul McCallum for Thursday nights home opener against the defending Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts. The Lions (0-1) started poorly against the Stampeders in their opening round clash in Calgary on Friday, and although they managed to outscore the hosts in the second half, they still lost 44-32. It was a frustrating game for Elimimian (ankle) to watch, and he admitted after Mondays practice that one point he "was about to throw a couple of chairs." "It was definitely tough," he said, before adding he was "expecting" to play in that game. "But that was last week and we have 17 more regular-season games to go." And that starts with a home date with the Argonauts (1-0), who fought back to overcome Hamilton 39-34 last week on the back of solid contributions from running back Chad Kackert (10 rushes for 112 yards and a touchdown) and wide receiver/kick returner Chad Owens. Elimimian is looking forward to the challenge of stopping that pair, along with QB Ricky Ray, who went 24-34 for 368 yards and four touchdowns against the Ti-Cats. "They have a great offence and a great offensive game," the 26-year-old said. "I just think the big thing for us is just doing what we do, and thats run to the ball and be physical and if we do that well be fine." Lions head coach Mike Benevides was looking forward to having Elimimian back at his disposal on defence as his team looks to avoid falling into a 0-2 hole. "The biggest thing that Solly brings to us is obviously that downhill mentality to defend the run," he said. "It gives us a little bit of synergy that we had in training camp and it just gives us another run stopper thats comfortable with `Biggie (LB Adam Bighill)." Besides Elimimian, the Lions should also be boosted by the return of 43-year-old McCallum, after Benevides watched his punter go through the motions Monday. "Paul did all the place kicking, he felt good, he did some punting and really showed some power," Benevides said. "So its gonna be on him because hes a pro and hes been around a long time. But I really liked what I saw from his place kicking. "He tells me he feels good, so Im gonna make sure that he is entirely confident that hes not feeling (the groin injury) anymore and well take a hard look at him." The news wasnt as promising for Lions star centre Angus Reid (lower back), with Benevides saying he will still be evaluated on a weekly basis. Jakub Zboril Jersey. . "Obviously, hes getting better all the time," the coach said of the 36-year-old. "The thing with him is its gonna be a week-to-week thing and for him its about loading it, meaning hes in the weight room doing squats, hes practising and then the true tell-tale will be how sore he is the next day or two days after." With the 13-year pro still sidelined, snapping duties will once again fall to second-year player Matt Norman, who is being groomed as Reids eventual replacement on the offensive line. The 25-year-old former guard struggled with the count in the loss to Calgary but said he had already put it behind him. "Ive looked at film, made some corrections and now Im focusing on Toronto," he said. Norman doesnt see Torontos visit as a tool for motivation, adding he maintains "the same level of intensity each week". "I dont go up or down depending on who were playing," he said. "I keep the same level of motivation and confidence for each game, to me its just another game." Despite his issues at centre, Norman had the full support of Lions QB Travis Lulay and Benevides as he makes the difficult transition. "Those types of things happen, they do happen, and Matt doesnt like it when they happen and its tough," said Lulay, who completed 21 of 36 passes for 283 yards and a touchdown against the Stampeders. "But its part of the process, you have to make mistakes to find out what you need to be better at so thats something hes obviously very conscious of. But Matts a pro, hell get those things ironed out and well get better there." Benevides said Normans errors were more glaring than others because of his job hiking the ball to Lulay on each possession. "You just have to grow with that a little bit, (but) when you look at the totality of the game, he played fine," he said. "Week to week hes gonna get better and you have to also give him a chance to go through some of these learning curves." NOTES: DE Julius Williams could make his first appearance in a Lions jersey on Thursday. Said Benevides: "He got some work on the weekend and were gonna take a hard look at that because if Julius can get in hell help us and that will give us a different type of rotation and a different type of player on the edge."aThe Lions added import LB Yaser Elqutub to their practice roster Monday. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '