progress must be made before he is ready to play in games again.Nowitzki deflected a question about whether his health issues could influence his decision to return for next season, when only $5 milli

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott admits Marcus Bontempelli was in the clubs crosshairs on Saturday night but denies bad blood between the AFL rivals.The 20-year-old star was roughed up and set upon even before the first bounce in the Western Bulldogs 14-point win over the Kangaroos on Saturday night.Michael Firrito and Bontempellis cousin Nick Dal Santo were in the thick of the action, with plenty of Kangaroos making themselves known to the midfielder.With plenty of feeling in the air, the obvious link was to Bontempellis comments from their previous encounter, when he accused Lindsay Thomas of a malicious hit on Lachie Hunter.Bontempelli tactfully ignored a question about what drove the Kangaroos interest in him, but said it was certainly noticeable.Everyone in the stadium knew ... I got a great deal support from my teammates and it makes a physical night a great deal easier, he told 3AW.Its footy and thats what weve come to expect in this game. Physicality and aggression.They had my number tonight. Youve got to wear it sometimes.Melees at quarter-time and half-time look likely to earn the AFL a tidy sum in player fines, and there seemed to be too much gusto to beBoth Scott and Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said it was purely about the contest.We certainly targeted him, Scott said.Not in a manner that is untoward. Hes a key player.Without disrespecting the rest of their midfield hes their best midfielder in my view ... we really felt if we could get on top of him we could get on top of their midfield.Beveridge accepted that argument, saying he was an obvious candidate for a hard tag.You didnt have to be Nostradamus to know it was going to happen, he said.There was a bit of angst in the game and it happened last time we played them as well.For our group to be ready for that and stand up for it was enormous.Beveridge said he loved the game by his boy wonder.There is no doubt the Kangaroos, like everyone, think if we stop Marcus Bontempelli we are a chance to stop their midfield, he said.But he is made of pretty special substances, Marcus, and his teammates will always support him.He has just got enormous courage and has enormous character. 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That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki?eliminated any doubt about his commitment to salvage the struggling Mavericks season Saturday night, when he addressed the media for the first time since being shut down a week ago due to lingering soreness in his right Achilles tendon.Im all-in. I want to play, Nowitzki said in front of his locker after his teammates pulled off the Mavs most lopsided win of the season, a 107-82 victory over the Chicago Bulls that improved Dallas record to a Western Conference-worst 4-15. This is obviously not a career-ending injury that Ive got. Its something that just keeps lingering unfortunately. I can hopefully get over it.Theres still a lot of season left. December just started. We know that theres a lot of games coming, so hopefully sometime soon Ill be out there and then stay out there. I dont want to jump in and out of the lineup with soreness or fight this whole year. Id love to be healthy and stay out there once I go.Nowitzki, the sixth-leading scorer in NBA history, has been limited to only five games this season because of Achilles soreness that started after he played 38 minutes in a season-opening overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers.He is out indefinitely but hopes to return before the end of the month.After missing eight straight games, Nowitzki played in blowout losses to the Clippers and Cavaliers last week. He said the soreness and stiffness in his Achilles returned during the second half of the Nov. 25 loss in Cleveland. He has not played since.Its frustrating for me, said Nowitzki, a 19-year veteran who has missed more than 10 games in a season only once before in his career. The whole situation is frustrating to be dealing with something I never have before in my career,, so its tough.dddddddddddd. But once Im out there, I dont want the same thing to happen again that just happened last week, so I want to make sure now its good to go. At this stage of my career, I dont move well anyways, so if Im out there at 80-90 percent, I dont think Im a big help. I want to make sure my bodys responding the right way and well go from there.Achilles injuries are tough, and they just limit your movement a lot. Limit my movement 10 years ago, Id still be able to play effectively out there. But if you limit my movement now, Im already a step slow, and that makes me three steps slow. It just makes no sense to be out there.Nowitzki said the Mavs athletic training staff has been ramping up his workouts recently. He has run on a treadmill and did some work on the court Friday, but he acknowledged that significant progress must be made before he is ready to play in games again.Nowitzki deflected a question about whether his health issues could influence his decision to return for next season, when only $5 million of his $25 million salary is guaranteed. He said his sole concern at the moment is returning as soon as possible.Nowitzki refuses to view this as a rebuilding season for the Mavs. He said they had an extremely difficult November schedule and had to deal with a lot of health issues in addition to his own. But Nowitzki added that the teams prospects have improved with the return of guards Deron Williams and Devin Harris.Hopefully Ill be back soon and we can run off some wins, Nowitzki said. Thats the only way I look at it. Everything else is nonsense. ' ' '