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In the grand tradition of minor-league promotional nights, the Manchester Monarchs, the Kings' American Hockey League affiliate in New Hampshire, will pay tribute to an out-of-style hairdo with 'Rock the Mullet' night March 14. 'The free-flowing, head-banging, hard- rocking of the '10-90' hairdo really came into its own in the 1980s,' Monarchs president Jeff Eisenberg said. 'It is the rock musicians that united hockey hair and music.' Monarchs officials cited the bands Cinderella, Whitesnake, Mötley Crüe, Poison and Guns N' Roses for 'keeping hockey hair cool.' Los Angeles Times

JAN HUBBARD After an easy night when he played only 26 minutes in a blowout victory over Sacramento, Dirk Nowitzki was the life of the locker room. A TV crew was attempting to interview Jason Kidd and Nowitzki began yelling at Kidd, giving him a hard time about a fancy shirt, which looked like a modern version of something King Henry VIII might wear.Nowitzki was relentless, savaging the interview with nonstop commentary. Ultimately, he concluded that Kidd must have purchased the shirt in New York, presumably because it didn’t look like something that might be worn either at Billy Bob’s or the West End.Nowitzki had a few barbs for other teammates, deftly blew off a radio reporter, began to make his way to the door and was clearly not only in his comfort zone, but also in complete command of the jovial locker room.I trailed him closely with my tape recorder and when I told him I wanted to ask a question, he yelled loudly: 'Oh no, not you.'Funny guy.I assured him quickly, how

Brad Miller played his first game Sunday in Indiana since being traded from Sacramento to the Chicago Bulls prior to the trade deadline. Miller played 20 minutes off the bench and managed 10 rebounds, but just six points and an assist.

Brad Miller played his first game Sunday in Indiana since being traded from Sacramento to the Chicago Bulls prior to the trade deadline. Miller played 20 minutes off the bench and managed 10 rebounds, but just six points and an assist. Joakim Noah started over him and managed 12 rebounds with five points and two blocks in 32 minutes.

Tim played his first game Sunday in Indiana since being traded from Sacramento to the Chicago Bulls prior to the trade deadline. Thomas played just eight minutes off the bench and managed only five points.

Kelly Pavlik retained his WBC and WBO middleweight titles when Mexican Marco Antonio Rubio refused to answer the bell for the 10th round.

By TRACEY MYERS DALLAS ? Brandon Bass and James Singleton?s lockers are right next to each other, so the two enjoyed some good-natured ribbing at each other?s expense after Saturday night?s game.Might as well. Their play a few quarters before gave the two reason to smile.Bass and Singleton both tallied career highs in points, 20 and 19, respectively, in the Mavericks? 116-95 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. Both played the entire second quarter, with Bass collecting 16 of his points and Singleton claiming 12 of his final tally.Not only did they help extend the Mavericks lead, which grew to 70-50 at the half, but they also gave the Mavs? starters some extra rest.?I had hoped that we could find a way to rest some of our starters who had had heavy, heavy minutes (against Houston),? coach Rick Carlisle said. ?I wasn?t anticipating what happened in the second quarter but it was great for us. It just got our bench into it more.?Bass, who went 7 for 9 from the field, had no ide

I had it all worked out. It occurred to me about three weeks before the game. Obviously, the big story was going to be the head to head between the former master and the perennial understudy. Between King Carlos and Nick Evans. Now, I just needed a way to start the write-up.

Dallas reserve James Singleton had a season-high 19 points to go with 12 rebounds in Saturday's win over the Kings. He was 7-of-10 from the field over 25 minutes with a three and two steals. He also blocked a shot.

Dallas PG Jose Juan Barea scored nine points in Saturday's win over the Kings, just a day after going for 26 points at Houston. Barea was 2-of-8 from the field on Saturday with eight dimes, seven rebounds, two steals and a three in 31 minutes off the bench.