The AP reports:

Dirk Nowitzki had 30 points and 11 rebounds, Jason Terry added 18 points and the Mavericks rallied in the fourth quarter for a 104-96 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night, giving Dallas 50 wins for the 11th straight season.

Shawn Marion added 17 points and Peja Stojakovic had 16 to help the Mavericks win for the third time in four games.

Anthony Randolph had a career-high 31 points with 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who’ve lost their last five games and are without injured All-Star forward Kevin Love.

The AP reports:

Funding for basketball has been cut in England just after the British team was granted a spot in the London 2012 Olympics.

Sport England says the organization that runs the national youth teams and grass roots basketball in England will have to cope with $1.9 million less for the next two years.

The cut is due to the number of adults playing basketball at least once a week dropping by almost 20 percent in the last two years to 154,100.

Philadelphia 76ers forward Craig Brackins was reassigned to the Springfield Armor, the 76ers’ NBA Development League affiliate, it was announced today.  The assignment marks the 49th time in the 2010-11 season an NBA player has been assigned to an NBA D-League affiliate, and it is the third and final assignment this season for Brackins, a rookie out of Iowa State.

Brackins (6-10, 230) was assigned on Nov. 30 and Jan. 15. He appeared in 14 games (nine starts) with the Armor, averaging 19.9 points and 9.1 rebounds in 37.2 minutes. Brackins has appeared in three games this season for Philadelphia, averaging 2.7 points in 11.0 minutes.

An early entry candidate for the 2010 NBA Draft, Brackins was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round (21st overall) as part of a draft-day swap with the New Orleans Hornets, who then traded Brackins to Philadelphia in September.  In three seasons at Iowa State, Brackins averaged 16.0 points and 7.7 rebounds in 95 games, and was an AP All-America Honorable Mention selection in 2009.

Brackins is expected to join Springfield for its home game against New Mexico on Saturday.