DALLAS -- Patty Mills is a shooter no matter when he goes into the game. The San Antonio guard showed it in yet another win over the Dallas Mavericks. Mills scored 26 points starting in place of Tony Parker and the Spurs moved to the brink of the top seed in the Western Conference while likely forcing the Mavericks into a must-win situation with their playoff hopes by beating Dallas 109-100 on Thursday night. Making his second start of the season and seventh of his career with Parker nursing a bad back, Mills had 11 points and a pair of steals in the third quarter when the Spurs turned a two-point deficit into an 11-point lead. "Whether I start or come off the bench, theres a mentality," said Mills, who fell six points short of his season high on 25 shots -- one shy of the most hes taken this season. "Shooting shots is the same." The Spurs beat the Mavericks for the ninth straight time in the regular season, a streak that has lasted more than two years. Tim Duncan had 20 points and 15 rebounds after leaving briefly in the first quarter because of a hyperextended right knee. Kawhi Leonard added 16 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and five assists. Monta Ellis led Dallas with 24 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 19. Even with Parker back in San Antonio, the Texas rivals looked like the old playoff foes they are in an entertaining game with both teams trying to lock up their post-season plans. The Spurs are in, and the defending conference champions are just a win or an Oklahoma City loss away from securing the top seed in the West. The Mavericks (48-32) are in a scrum with Phoenix and Memphis -- their opponents in the final two games -- for the final two playoff spots a year after missing the post-season for the first time since 2000. Dallas is in a virtual tie with the Suns (47-31) and a game ahead of the Grizzlies (46-32). Both opponents have four games in the last six days of the season, with Phoenix coming to Dallas on Saturday night to finish a back-to-back that starts in San Antonio. "Obviously, Saturdays huge for us," said Devin Harris, who had eight points but was just 1 of 8 from the field. "Weve got to come out with that type of effort, knowing that our seasons on the line and its a game that we must have." The Spurs had a scary moment early when Duncan crumpled to the court holding his right knee and stayed down for a Dallas possession at the other end. When the Spurs got the game stopped with 5:58 left in the first quarter, he headed for a tunnel but emerged a few minutes later and returned to the game. "It really wasnt that bad," Duncan said. "It just scared me more than anything." Parker missed his second straight game after leaving early in a win over Memphis on Sunday. The Spurs trailed by as many as 28 points and never led in a 19-point loss to Minnesota without Parker, but Mills started in place of Cory Joseph and took over against the Mavericks. Mills had eight points on an 11-0 first-half spurt that lasted just a minute and a half and answered a 14-2 run by Dallas to put San Antonio back in front by five. After Duncan, Leonard and Danny Green keyed a 9-2 run to start the second half, Mills scored 11 of the next 13 San Antonio points capped by a 3-pointer for a 71-60 lead midway through the third quarter. "Hes always aggressive," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Hes not going to get a whole lot of rebounds or stop a whole lot of people, but hes going to shoot it. Thats what his skill is. Mills was 6 of 11 from 3-point range, and Green hit three from beyond the arc in the first 5 minutes and finished with 15 points as the Spurs matched their season high with 16 from long range on a season-high 34 attempts. "We just didnt find them quick enough," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "It was an area that was easily identifiable as one of the big keys of the game." Ellis scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter with the San Antonio lead hovering around double digits. He was just 5 of 16 from the field through three quarters. NOTES: Nowitzki got a standing ovation during a timeout after a video tribute to him passing Oscar Robertson for 10th on the NBA scoring list in a win at Utah on Tuesday. ... Actor Tobey Maguire ("Spiderman" and "The Great Gatsby") was in attendance. Megan Rapinoe Jersey . With his father watching from the stands, Harrison homered, doubled, single and drove in a career-high five runs to lead the Pirates to a 8-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. Alyssa Naeher Jersey .ca. Mr. Fraser, It looks like Martin Brodeur is coming back to play for the Blues. I was wondering if you have any great stories or fond memories of your time on the ice with Brodeur - in the NHL, or maybe even the Olympics. http://www.socceruswntshop.com/sam-mewis-usa-jersey/ . The Brazilian international goalkeeper was beaten twice in the first 12 minutes of his Reds debut in a 3-1 preseason loss to Columbus Crew in Florida earlier this week. Becky Sauerbrunn Jersey . Hes recovered from a scary injury and cleared to play. Mingo, who was hospitalized with a bruised lung he sustained in an Aug. Kelley OHara Jersey . Dane Dobbie and Shawn Evans each had two goals and two assists for the Roughnecks (8-5), who outscored Minnesota 6-2 in the fourth quarter after being tied through 45 minutes. Curtis Dickson scored once and set up three more for Calgary and Dan MacRae, Geoff Snider, Tor Reinholdt, Karsen Leung and Matthew Dinsdale.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Salvador Perez was a bit miffed when he showed up to the park on Thursday. The Kansas City Royals big, affable catcher had worked nine innings the previous night in a game that was delayed nearly three hours by rain and a lighting outage, so manager Ned Yost thought he would give Perez the afternoon off from behind the plate against the Cleveland Indians. "There was no way he was going to play him today," Yost explained later, "but I told him to be ready, because you could have an impact on this game." That proved to be quite the prediction. Perez entered as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning and delivered a bases-loaded double, sending the Royals to a 10-7 victory over the Indians on a sun-splashed afternoon. "I just felt a little sad coming into the clubhouse and seeing the lineup," Perez said, "but I just had to be ready for the sixth inning, the seventh inning, whatever the case." Lorenzo Cain hit his first career grand slam and George Kottaras followed with a solo shot in the sixth inning for the Royals, allowing them to rally from an early 5-0 deficit. The Indians regained the lead on Carlos Santanas two-run double in the seventh, but the Royals answered again in the bottom half when Eric Hosmer cracked a two-run homer. Indians reliever Bryan Shaw (0-2) walked Kottaras to lead off the eighth and then hit Johnny Giavotella. Shaw was lifted for Rich Hill, who promptly walked Jarrod Dyson to load the bases. "We knew Perez was sitting over there ready to hit," Indians manager Terry Francona said. He came through with the biggest hit of the day. "We didnt get the job done the last two nights," said Indians reliever Joe Smith, who served up Hosmers homer. "It leaves a sour taste in your mouth." Luke Hochevar (2-1) worked a scoreless eighth inning for the Royals, and Greg Holland worked around a single in the ninth for his second straight save and his 19th on the season. The Royals scored at least 10 runs for only the fourth time this year -- despite only six hits -- by taking advantage of eight walks and a costly hit batter by the Indians. "In the sixth, seventh and eighth, we walked the leadoff hitter every inning," Francona said. "We just put ourselves in a tough position even though we scored seven runs." Drew Stubbs homered and drove in four runs, and Michael Brantley had four hits and also drove in a run for Cleveland, which had won five straight and pulled into first place in the wide open AL Central before losing its last two games to the Royals in wild fashion. Hosmers go-ahead shot in the seventh on Weednesday night gave Kansas City a 6-5 victory.dddddddddddd "The character of this offence is were not quitting," Hosmer said. "We told ourselves before, if were going to make a run at this, these are big games to make up ground, facing the teams ahead of you in the division. We didnt want to let this opportunity slip away." Things looked good for the Indians at the start on Thursday. They took a quick lead on Brantleys single in the first and then Stubbs made it 3-0 with his homer in the second. James Shields put the Indians leadoff batter on base for the fourth time before Santana singled in the sixth. Aviles added a one-out single and Lonnie Chisenhall walked to load the bases for Stubbs, who delivered a two-run single that made it 5-0 and knocked Shields from the game. The prize acquisition in a blockbuster trade with Tampa Bay, Shields went 29 consecutive starts of at least six innings before lasting five against the White Sox on June 23. His early ouster on Thursday made it fewer than six in two of his last three starts. Ubaldo Jimenez had allowed just two hits and kept the Royals in check until the sixth inning, when he led it off by walking his fourth and fifth batters of the game. An error on Jimenez while trying to cover first loaded the bases with nobody out. Cain came to the plate and hit a 3-2 pitch to centre for his first career grand slam, and the second of the series by the Royals. Alex Gordon hit one in Tuesday nights opener. Kottaras, getting the start at catcher for Perez, added his tying shot to right moments later. It was only his third of the season but the second time Kottaras has been involved in back-to-back home runs: He did it with Dyson on June 23 against the White Sox. Jason Kipnis, who earlier extended his hitting streak to 15 games, drew a leadoff walk and Brantley singled off Gutierrez in the seventh before Santanas double made it 7-5. Hosmer matched both runs in the bottom half with his seventh homer in his last 12 games. Thats how the game remained until Perez cleared the bases with his double in the eighth, the three RBI boosting the Royals to their seventh straight win in a game Shields has started. "Weve been doing a good job of coming back all year. Were real resilient," Shields said. "Im proud of these guys. Hopefully we can get a little string of wins together." NOTES: The Royals (24-19) began the day with the ALs second-best winning percentage on July 4. The Indians (88-73) had the fifth-best percentage. ... Royals RHP Wade Davis will start Friday against Oakland. Indians RHP Justin Masterson will take the mound against Detroit. Blackhawks Jerseys StoreCheap Wild JerseysCheap Red Wings JerseysCheap Maple Leafs JerseysPenguins Jerseys StoreCapitals Jerseys For SaleBlues Jerseys StoreCheap Kings JerseysAdidas Lightning JerseysStars Jerseys For SaleCheap Predators JerseysDucks StoreSharks Jerseys For SaleCheap Sabres JerseysRangers Jerseys For Sale ' ' '