Thomas started the second half with a four-poin

DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki insists he didnt intend to disrespect Chandler Parsons while praising his replacement on the Dallas Mavericks.Some believed that Nowitzki slyly called out Parsons while raving about the work ethic of new Mavs small forward Harrison Barnes.Theres been tons of guys that told me that they were gym rats and Ive never seen them in the gym at nights, but this guy is constantly in here, mornings and nights, Nowitzki said of Barnes at media day, which was similar to his comments the previous week on his new teammate. He wants to be great.Nowitzki seemed surprised when told that the comments were being perceived as a verbal version of a subtweet of Parsons. He was adamant that he was speaking of his experience over 18 NBA seasons, not specifically thinking of Parsons.But Nowitzki, whose friendship with Parsons features a constant exchange of trash talk, couldnt resist taking a playful jab.He knew he wasnt a gym rat. He never said he was! Nowitzki joked to ESPN on Friday, laughing as he jogged up the stairs from the Mavs practice court.Parsons, who signed a max deal with the Memphis Grizzlies after the Mavs declined to make him a long-term offer due to concerns about his knee, wasnt about to let Nowitzki get the last word.Parsons text reply to ESPN: Dirk is getting pretty old, so he was probably asleep when I was in the gym. Custom Todd Helton Jersey . Darren Helm scored on Detroits sixth attempt in the shootout and then Jonas Gustavsson stopped Andrew Shaws shot, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Custom Rockies T-shirts .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. http://www.customrockiesjersey.com/ . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Custom Rockies Jersey China . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Rockies Jerseys China . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. AUBURN HILLS. Mich. -- Al Horford got the winning basket, though it was Marcus Smart who made the biggest play.With the game tied at 92, Jae Crowder missed a go-ahead 3-pointer, but Smart came from the corner to tip the ball back at the basket. His shot didnt go in, but it gave Horford time to set himself for the follow shot with 1.3 seconds left that gave the Boston Celtics a 94-92 victory over the Detroit Pistons.The credit goes to Marcus, because that was a championship-level play, Horford said. He crashed the glass hard.Said Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy: We just stood there and watched. They missed and no one moved or blocked out.Isaiah Thomas had 24 points and eight assists for Boston, while Horford added 18 points and 11 rebounds.We didnt call a timeout in the last four minutes, because I just wanted to let them play, Boston coach Brad Stevens said. Our guys were making the right reads and the right plays.Marcus Morris led Detroit with 24 points and Andre Drummond had 20 points and 17 rebounds. The Pistons became the last NBA team to lose at home.The teams traded the lead for most of the fourth quarter, and Kentavious Caldwell Popes 3-pointer -- his first basket of the game -- gave the Pistons an 87-86 lead with 1:54 left. The teams traded dunks, and Thomas hit a layup over Drummond with 1:10 to play to make it 90-89.Caldwell-Pope missed an open 3, making him 1 for 7 on the night, and Drummond fouled Thomas on another drive. He made both free throws with 30.5 seconds left to give the Celtics a three-point lead, but Tobias Harris hit a tying 3-pointer.We were in position to come out of here with a victory, but we let them get off two extra shots, Harris said. Nobody, including myself, turned around to keep someone off the glass.Boston, realizing that Drummond was on the bench, didnt call a timeout and it ended up being the difference in the game.Im kicking myself right now, because if we have Andre on the floor, we get that rebound and were in overtime, Van Gundy said.dddddddddddd We had Aron on the floor to run the play that led to our 3-pointer, but when they didnt call a timeout, we couldnt get Andre back out there.The Celtics were 6 of 10 on 3-pointers in the first quarter, including Thomas buzzer-beater, to take a 30-23 lead. Boston led 50-47 at halftime.Detroit got 37 points from its starting frontcourt in the half, but guards Ish Smith and Caldwell-Pope had three points on 1-of-5 shooting. Bostons backcourt of Avery Bradley and Thomas combined for 18 points and nine assists.The Pistons used a 10-0 run to take the lead midway through the third quarter, and still had a 73-71 advantage at quarters end.TIP-INSCeltics: Thomas started the second half with a four-point possession. He hit a free throw after the Pistons were called for a defensive three-second violation, then knocked down his second 3-pointer of the game.Pistons: Stanley Johnson, normally one of the Detroits top bench players, didnt play. Van Gundy said that Johnson will only be used as a backup small forward, and he wasnt needed with Morris and Harris both playing well.DRUMMOND MILESTONEDrummond pulled down his 4,000th career rebound in the third quarter. At 23 years and 101 days, he is the second-youngest player to reach the milestone, trailing only Dwight Howard (22 years, 129 days).CELTICS PLAY SMALLStevens wanted to keep a smaller lineup on the floor to try to give Drummond and Baynes matchup problems. Smart played 30:36 while starter Amir Johnson only got 20:22. We were trying to stretch those guys as much as we could, he said. It is hard to do that, because of Morris and Harris, but we thought it went well.UP NEXTCeltics: Travel to Minneapolis to play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.Pistons: Host the Houston Rockets on Monday. ' ' '