DALLAS -- Wesley Matthews has taken greater responsibility with Dirk Nowitzki out of the Dallas Mavericks lineup much of this season.Matthews scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half of Dallas 107-82 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.Matthews was the star of the game, obviously, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. He is our leader right now with Dirk out. He really sets the tone for us in the locker room and on the floor. He is just the vocal guy.Matthews has accepted the expanded role as Nowitzki has been limited to five games by a strained right Achilles tendon.I feel like thats one of the reasons why they brought me over here (from Portland). Through this rough patch, injuries and everything, everybody had to mold together. Its almost like we had to restructure ourselves. I think everybody has embraced that.Harrison Barnes scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half to help Dallas improve to 4-15.Chicago was coming off a 111-105 victory over defending champion Cleveland on Friday night.Jimmy Butler led Chicago with 26 points.I dont think anybody played well tonight, Butler said. We didnt play with energy on either end of the floor.Barnes powered the Mavericks to a 17-point first-quarter lead with eight points.They came out and threw the first punch and kept throwing, and we could just never recover from that, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. We did expend a lot of energy (Friday) night.Dwight Powell (17) and rookie Dorian Finney-Smith (11) had career highs in scoring, and Deron Williams had a season-high 15 assists with only one turnover.The biggest thing was we were even (43-43) on the boards, Carlisle said. Andrew Bogut had a game-high 11 rebounds, and Powell grabbed eight.Neither team scored in the first 2:15, but Dallas went on a 7-0 run over the next 1:20. The Mavericks led 23-6 with 3:17 left. The quarter ended with Dallas leading 29-18. Bogut had six points and eight rebounds.Chicago pulled within six points three times in the second quarter, but Dallas finished the first half with a 57-45 lead. In the third quarter, Matthews had 14 points, and the Maverick led by as many as 21 points.TIP-INSBulls: C Robin Lopez has a career-high 11 straight games with 10 or more points. He scored 15 against Dallas. ... F Jimmy Butler has reached 20 points in 17 of 19 games. He scored on a drive with 1:00 left in the third quarter, but was charged with a technical foul for arguing that he had been fouled.Mavericks: G Wesley Matthews made 7 of 11 3-point attempts. ... C Andrew Bogut fouled out, but had 11 rebounds and a season-high eight points. ... The Mavericks 29 first-quarter points were a season high. ... Their largest margin of victory before Saturday was 12 points.WADE RESTSBulls G Dwyane Wade missed his second game this season, both to rest. He stayed in Chicago after Fridays win over Cleveland. Their flight landed in the DFW Metroplex at 2:30 a.m. for the second game in a stretch of four games in five days. Nikola Mirotic started in Wades place and was scoreless in 13 minutes played.NOWITZKI INDEFINITEThe Mavericks said that they no longer will keep a timetable for when F Dirk Nowitzki (strained right Achilles tendon) would play. Instead, his return will be listed as indefinite. He has played in only five games this season.We said Im still a few games away, but luck can change, so I just have to go day by day, Nowitzki said.At this stage in my career, I dont move well anyways, so if Im out there at like 80, 90 percent, I dont think Im a big help, so I want to make sure my bodys responding the right way and well go from there.UP NEXTBulls: Return home to play Portland on Monday night. Chicago won at Portland 113-88 behind Jimmy Butlers 27 points on Nov. 15.Mavericks: Host Charlotte on Monday night in the second game of a four-game homestand. Dallas lost to the Hornets on the road Thursday night. Fake Hurricanes Jerseys . LUCIE, Fla. 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HOUSTON -- Houstons Lucas Harrell was drafted by the Chicago White Sox and spent his first seven years with the organization before the Astros claimed him off waivers in 2011. He still hasnt forgotten the snub, which made Saturday nights win particularly sweet. Harrell pitched into the seventh inning and Jason Castro and Chris Carter homered in the fourth inning to give Houston the lead and the Astros held on for their third straight victory, 4-3 over the White Sox. Harrell (5-7) allowed seven hits and three runs with a season-high seven strikeouts in 6 2-3 innings. "Its always nice to beat them," said Harrell, who is 2-0 in two starts against the White Sox. "When someone tells you that you cant play for them and they dont think youre good enough theres a little chip on your shoulder when you play them." The game was tied 1-1 when Castro launched a solo homer into the bullpen in right-centre to start the fourth inning. Carters one-out homer clanged off the foul pole in left field to extend the lead to 3-1 and leave starter John Danks (1-3) shaking his head. It was the team-leading 14th homer for Carter, who also leads the Astros with 36 RBIs. Hes the first Astro to have at least 14 home runs by June 15 since 2008. Castro, the catcher, thought the fifth inning was important to help Harrell on the mound. "That definitely took some pressure off Lucas and he was able to really focus on pitching," Castro said. "Hes really good with that lead and maintaining it. Once we got that lead you could tell that he really kind of settled in and was ready to go deep into the game." Brandon Barnes drove in a run with a double in the fifth inning to make it 4-1. Adam Dunn hit his 18th homer to start the White Sox seventh and Gordon Beckhams ground-rule double later in the inning made it 4-3. Danks yielded five hits and four runs in six-plus innings. The White Sox had runners at the corners with two outs in the eighth inning, but pinch-hitter Jeff Keppinger grounded into a force out to end the threat. Jose Veras pitched a scoreless ninth for his 13th save. He allowed a walk to start the ninth, but picked off pinch-runner Jordan Danks at second to end the game. "You practice plays like that in spring training and, lo and behold, you get this deep into the season and it ends up being a very big play in a game in which we were able to win," Houston manager Bo Porter said.dddddddddddd The White Sox have dropped 11 of their last 12 on the road and are last in the AL-Central. "Obviously were not in a very good position right now, but theres a lot of baseball left," Danks said. Alexei Ramirez singled with one out in the first and stole second base. The White Sox took a 1-0 lead on a two-out RBI single by Paul Konerko. Harrell settled down after that, retiring the next 11 batters he faced. Chicagos next hit came when Beckham singled with one out in the fifth inning. But Harrell still faced the minimum in that inning after Tyler Flowers grounded into a double play. Porter was impressed with Harrells work. "Im extremely happy," he said. "He battled and kept those guys at bay. He continued to attack the strike zone." He threw a 1-2-3 sixth inning before running into trouble in the seventh. Dunns sixth homer this month landed in the Crawford Boxes in left field to cut the lead to 4-2. Conor Gillaspie singled with one out and took second on an error by right fielder Trevor Crowe on the play. A ground-rule double by Beckham with two outs got Chicago within 4-3. Flowers singled to chase Harrell. He was replaced by Paul Clemens, who struck out Alejandro De Aza to limit the damage. Danks plunked Carlos Pena with two outs in the second inning to end a career-long streak during which he retired 26 consecutive batters. Ronny Cedeno followed with a double that scored Pena to tie it at 1-all. The double was the first extra-base hit Danks had allowed in 12 2-3 innings. He got back on track after that and sat down the next four batters, with two strikeouts, causing frustration among Houstons hitters. Jose Altuve threw his bat angrily when he struck out on a full-count to end the third inning. Matt Dominguez singled down the left field line to start Houstons fifth. A run-scoring double by Barnes with one out that rolled into the corner of right field pushed Houstons lead to 4-1. NOTES: De Aza was back in the lineup a night after sitting out with a stomach ailment. ... The series continues on Sunday when Chicagos Hector Santiago opposes Dallas Keuchel. ' ' '