he two-point conversion, leaving the Sooners no choice

NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks spent $72 million to make Joakim Noah the anchor of their defense.On Monday, they sat him down and turned around a game.Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis each scored 24 points, and the Knicks rolled after a halftime lineup change and beat the short-handed Dallas Mavericks 93-77.The Knicks benched Noah, their big free-agent signing, starting guard Justin Holiday and moving Porzingis to center in a small lineup. They responded by scoring 31 points in the third quarter after managing just 36 in an ugly first half.Second half was really good. Coach made the decision to play small, Noah said. I didnt get to play, everybody wants to play, but its good that we won. We found a way. It was much-needed.Anthony scored 17 in the third quarter and 20 in the second half after shooting 1 for 6 in the first half. Porzingis finished with 11 rebounds, though coach Jeff Hornacek doesnt think his move to starting center is going to be permanent.Just because it was good in the second half doesnt mean were going to change it, Hornacek said.Harrison Barnes scored 20 points and J.J. Barea had 17 for the Mavericks, who are still without Dirk Nowitzki and Deron Williams.The remaining lineup was good enough to take a 39-36 halftime lead but got run off the floor once the Knicks returned with a different look.This is where everybody has got to be totally together, help each other out, really focus on doing the little things at a high level, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. I thought the first half we did that. In the second half we had breakdowns.Anthony made a 3-pointer to open the half and later had six straight points in the midst of the Knicks 19-6 run that Holiday capped with a 3-pointer that made it 55-45. New York outscored Dallas 31-12 in the period as the Mavs shot 5 for 20, and it was 67-51 headed to the fourth.Porzingis and Anthony made consecutive 3-pointers that pushed it to 82-64 midway through the period and soon both were on the bench for good.Noah, a defensive-minded center who battled injuries in his final season in Chicago, grabbed six rebounds in 16 scoreless minutes. He didnt play in the second half, while Holiday finished with 16 points.TIP-INSMavericks: Dallas had won five straight and 24 of the last 29 meetings. ... Barnes had scored 25 or more in a career-best three straight games.Knicks: The Knicks snapped a two-game losing streak. ... New York won for the first time in five games this season when scoring fewer than 100 points.DIRK WORKSNowitzki had a lengthy pregame workout on the court, but by then the Mavs had already determined that he would miss his fourth straight game with a sore right Achilles.I think hes really close. Hes feeling a lot better and we just dont want to rush anything, owner Mark Cuban said. Theres no reason to rush anything with him.TAKE TIMEDallas was twice called for technical fouls in the fourth quarter for calling timeout when it had no timeouts remaining.HELPING HANDHornacek asked Carlisle if Nowitzki would work out with Porzingis in September. They couldnt get anything scheduled but both sides hope they can eventually.Dirks a giver, he would love to see every international guy have the same opportunities hes had, Carlisle said. Its something that didnt work out because I think at the time in September Dirks travel schedule and Kristaps health situation didnt match up, but maybe sometime in the future. I know that Dirk would look forward to spending time with him and vice versa.UP NEXTMavericks: Visit Boston on Wednesday to finish four-game, coast-to-coast road trip that began at the Los Angeles Lakers. Dallas has won seven straight against the Celtics.Knicks: Host Detroit on Wednesday. The Pistons beat the Knicks 102-89 earlier this season.---This story has been corrected to show that Nowitzki has missed four straight games. Jordan China . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. Clearance Air Jordan Store . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. https://www.jordanchina.us/ . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. Air Jordan China . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Cheap Jordan From China . - Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie never doubted he would bring back coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. NORMAN, Okla. -- The Associated Press recently ranked Ohio State and Oklahoma the top two programs in college football history -- the Buckeyes No. 1 and the Sooners No. 2.The storied programs will meet Saturday for just the third time. No matter what they do, theyll have a tough time topping their original showdown.On Sept. 24, 1977, the Sooners and Buckeyes played a classic worthy of those top two spots in the all-time rankings. Oklahoma defeated Ohio State 29-28 in Columbus, Ohio, in a game that had just about everything -- a huge crowd, coaching legends, key injuries, eight turnovers and an Oklahoma squad that blew a 20-point lead before staging a furious rally in the final seven minutes to pull out the victory.Uwe von Schamann was the biggest of many heroes for the Sooners. The German-born kicker executed a successful onside kick in the final minutes, then nailed the game-winning field goal from 41 yards out with three seconds remaining.Von Schamann toyed with the Ohio Stadium crowd before the kick.I remember the crowd, von Schamann said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. I usually block out the crowd, but I heard the crowd in this instance, yelling `Block that kick! I dont know why I did it, kind of a spontaneous reaction, but I raised my arms and I led the chant.Von Schamann works in communication and development for the Childrens Center Rehabilitation Hospital in Bethany, Oklahoma. Dean Blevins, the backup quarterback who led the rally, is the sports director for KWTV News 9 in Oklahoma City. They helped the AP revisit that pivotal game.Oklahoma was ranked No. 3 and Ohio State No. 4. It was Ohio State coach Woody Hayes, who had won five national titles, against Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer, who won national titles in 1974 and 1975. Ohio Stadium was packed with 88,119 fans, the third-largest crowd for an Ohio State home game at the time.Oklahoma rolled to a 20-0 lead on the strength of Billy Sims running and Thomas Lotts wishbone mastery. Both were injured, however, and Oklahomas offense was stuck during the middle part of the game.Ohio State dealt with injuries, too. Their fullback, Jeff Logan, wasnt fully healthyy.dddddddddddd Ray Griffin, a star cornerback, switched to offense to fill in, which weakened the Buckeyes defense. Linebacker Tom Cousineau left the game early with a shoulder injury, and quarterback Ron Gerald, a dangerous runner, did not finish the game.A 30-yard touchdown run by Ron Springs on an option to the left side got the Buckeyes on the board for the first of 28 unanswered points.Blevins said the Sooners, no matter how much they were struggling, always believed Sooner Magic would prevail.We had an unbelievable amount of confidence, he said. That was just a trademark of Barry Switzer teams. We had come back at Nebraska the year before, and had come back a couple of times even prior to that.Oklahomas offense took over with 6:24 remaining in the fourth quarter and put together a 12-play, 43-yard touchdown drive. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Blevins ran the option to his right and pitched to Elvis Peacock, who spun into the end zone after a hard hit to cut Ohio States lead to 28-26 with 1:21 to play. The same play failed on the two-point conversion, leaving the Sooners no choice but to go for the onside kick.Von Schamann said the Sooners had a plan. One of his coaches asked him which player he was going to hit with the ball so it would bounce off and give the Sooners a chance to recover.I told him the second guy from the left, von Schamann said. Sure enough, I hit it good, and it hit him in the chest, and Mike Babb recovered it.The Sooners took over at the 50-yard line.Blevins, who bounced back after throwing two interceptions earlier in the game, connected on a 18-yard pass to Steve Rhodes. Kenny King burst up the middle for six yards to put the Sooners in range. After two short runs, it was time for von Schamann to handle business.We positioned it where it was only a 41-yard kick, and thats an extra point or a chip shot for Uwe, Blevins said. So the only thought on the sideline watching it was the snap and the hold, because Uwe was going to do his job.---Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter (at)CliffBruntAP ' ' '