.TURNING POINTWhen Michael Zeno drove the lane and dunked 4:38 into the contest, it c

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. 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Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. Javier Mascherano Argentina Jersey . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. STILLWATER, Okla. -- Leyton Hammonds had 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds as Oklahoma State rolled to a 117-72 victory over New Orleans Wednesday night.Six different players scored in double digits for Oklahoma State (3-0), which hit the 100-point plateau for the third consecutive game -- for just the second time in school history and first since the 1993-94 season.Hammonds had just eight points on 4-of-8 shooting in the first two games combined, getting completely shut out in the Cowboys opener, and surpassed those totals in the first eight minutes against New Orleans.We had a lot of guys in double figures, we shared the ball really well today, Hammonds said. But our main thing was defense. We were just playing great on defense, everybody was. It kind of gave us some energy on offense to share the ball and get easy baskets. It made it easy for us.Erik Thomas scored 18 points and had five rebounds, while Jorge Rosa contributed 14 points, for New Orleans (1-1).We did very few things at a high level, and we have to get better on all aspects offensively, said Privateers coach Mark Slessinger. We have to execute at a much higher rate. We have to be able to communicate defensively at a higher rate, which we did not do.The Cowboys led from wire-to-wire, jumping out to a big lead early and building on it the rest of the way. They led 68-36 at halftime, with their first-half offensive output setting a new school record.All in all, I thought it was a terrific first half, said first-year OSU coach Brad Underwood. I really challenged them in the second half to maintain that, I know human nature becomes a little more difficult. Six guys in double figures, 22 assists, 10 turnovers -- good numbers. I think weve improved.BIG PICTURENew Orleans: Following a 103-67 win over Division III LaGrange College last Friday in their season opener, the Privateers appeared out of their depth for much of the night. After holding LaGrange to just 36 percent (23 for 64), New Orleans allowed OSU a 53.5 shooting percentage. Starting forward Makur Puou scored 10 points and had eigght rebounds against LaGrange, but was held off the score sheet while picking up four rebounds.dddddddddddd New Orleans also turned it over just 11 times in the opener, but had 23 in this one.Oklahoma State: For a team that had already scored 102 points in each of its first two victories, the Cowboys found another offensive gear this time. With no starter playing more than 20 minutes, Oklahoma State still received 13 points and eight assists from Jawun Evans, while Phil Forte scored 13. Jeffrey Carroll scored 14 points with three steals off the bench, while freshman Lucas NGuessan scored 11 points with six rebounds, and fellow freshman Lindy Waters also scored 11. But among all the impressive statistics was that they turned the ball over just 10 times, including just twice in the first half.TURNING POINTWhen Michael Zeno drove the lane and dunked 4:38 into the contest, it cut Oklahoma States lead to 14-8, but the Cowboys erupted for a 24-4 run over the next five minutes that enabled them to take over the game. After Mitchell Solomon sank a free throw with 7:25 left in the first half, Oklahoma State had stretched its advantage to 48-16, and the outcome was never in doubt again.STAT OF THE NIGHTThe Cowboys outrebounded New Orleans 47-29, limiting the Privateers to just eight offensive rebounds. New Orleans had 47 rebounds (22 offensive) in its opener against LaGrange.A big challenge coming into this game was controlling the glass, Underwood said. The Thomas kid had nine offensive rebounds in their first game -- I dont care who you do that against, thats a big-time effort. We took that challenge on, and it was great to see.UP NEXTNew Orleans: remains in Oklahoma, visiting Tulsa on Saturday. The Golden Hurricane is 0-2 after losing to Wichita State 80-53 Wednesday night.Oklahoma State: travels to Hawaii to take part in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational Tournament on Monday, first facing UConn, who have started 0-2 so far this year. ' ' '