HOUSTON -- The Rockets offence is one of the best in the NBA. Jordan Clarkson Cavaliers Jersey . However, against Golden State on Friday night, it was the defence that was the key. Houston leaned on its defence in the first quarter while jumping out to a double-digit lead it didnt relinquish. James Harden scored 34 points, Dwight Howard had 22 points and 18 rebounds, and the Rockets beat the Warriors 105-83. Terrence Jones added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who had lost two straight. Harden shot 13 for 22 from the field and 7 for 9 on free throws two nights after shooting 3 for 17 -- including 0 for 10 on 3-pointers -- against Phoenix. Howard was 12 for 20 on free throws as the Rockets finished 25 for 39 from the line. Houston was also 45 per cent from the field. "Thats the way we play," Harden said. "If we dont get after them on the defensive end, its going to be tough for us. We were getting huge stops and getting out in transition. We did a good job early in the game of putting pressure on their guards, and we got things going our way." Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 22 points and five assists, but was just 5 of 14 from the field while making all 11 free-throw attempts. Harrison Barnes had 14 points and seven rebounds, Kent Bazemore added 12 and David Lee 11 points as the Warriors saw their two-game win streak end. Golden State shot 36 per cent from the field, including 2 for 16 on 3s. "Theyre a tough team," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "They shoot a lot of 3s. They shoot them at a really high percentage. We were trying to get them off the line and keep pressure on them and keep our bids up so they just couldnt walk into shots. For the most part, we did a very good job of that." Golden State coach Mark Jackson said it was a bad loss. "The way we started the ball game, there have been times when our bench has been bad, and we let them know, and tonight, the starters did a poor job of setting the tone," Jackson said. "We got outworked. They played with more force and that set the tone the rest of the way." The Rockets led 61-37 at halftime and pushed the advantage to 28 on Hardens three-point play less than 2 minutes into the third quarter. Golden State pulled to 74-50 on Jermaine ONeals jumper midway through the third, and the Warriors resorted to Hack-a-Howard with 5:40 remaining in the period. Howard made 2 of 4 from the line, and the Warriors pulled to 76-54 on ONeals layup with 5:06 to go in the quarter. Howard connected on the next two free throws, and the Warriors went away from hacking him. Golden State got no closer than 15 points the rest of the way. "Its like tonight we didnt hit shots early, and we have a tendency to dwell on that, and we werent getting stops and we cant turn the ball over on offence," Curry said. "We gave them extra possessions early in the game to get their confidence going." Houston opened up a 31-12 lead after the first quarter on 60-per cent shooting from the field. The Rockets hit nine of their first 11 field goals as Jones led the way with 11 points in the quarter and Howard had nine. "We did the best job we could on making sure those guys didnt get 3s off tonight, and thats where it started," Howard said. "Our defence was great from the beginning. We had a lot of deflections. We ran the floor well and put pressure on their guards to make plays to other guys instead of them coming off and scoring." Golden State opened the second with five straight points to pull within 14 on Currys 3, but the Rockets responded with a 16-6 spurt over a 5-minute stretch to open up a 55-30 lead on Patrick Beverleys layup with 1:30 to go in the half. Harden had eight points in the run. The Warriors shot 27 per cent from the field and hit 1 of 8 from beyond the arc in the first half after scoring 19 points in the first quarter three nights earlier against Toronto and trailing by 17 at the half. "I know there is a reason for it thats excusable," Klay Thompson said of the slow starts. "Its very disappointing. As a starter, we have to come out there with unlimited energy." NOTES: Houston forward Chandler Parsons returned after missing the last two games with back spasms. Parsons finished with eight points and five assists on 3-of-13 shooting in 34 minutes. ... The Warriors 12 first quarter points tied a season low for a quarter and was the Warriors fewest points in a first quarter. ... The 12 first-quarter points was also a season-low for points in a quarter allowed by the Rockets. J.R. Smith Cavaliers Jersey . Schaub will start for an injured Case Keenum and try to help the Texans end a 12-game skid. Schaubs last action in Houston came when he took over late in a game against Oakland on Nov. 17 as Keenum was struggling. Rodney Hood Jersey .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. https://www.thecavalierslockerroom.com/Alec-Burks-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Peter Dawson took his long before he started the job. "I was playing an American one year at Oxford Golf Club, and he introduced me to this travelling mulligan," Dawson said.(SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Kreider showed his former coach a few things last time out. The New York forward will look to build off his first career hat trick on Monday night as the Rangers welcome the Winnipeg Jets to Madison Square Garden. Coming off a 3-2 loss to Boston the previous day, the Rangers prepared for a big showdown with the John Tortorella-led Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. It marked Tortorellas first trip back to New York after being fired by the Rangers during the offseason. Tortorella was replaced as coach by Alain Vigneault, who was let go by the Canucks over the summer to create the position filled by Tortorella. Vigneault opted to shake up his lines ahead of Saturdays game and one move was putting Kreider on the top line with Rick Nash and Derek Stephan. It paid off as Kreider scored three times in the 5-2 win. The 22-year-old now has six goals and 16 points in 20 games this season after logging just two goals and one assist in three games last season under Tortorella. He credited his linemates with Saturdays success. "Those are just the kind of players they are. It doesnt matter really who you put with them, theyre so good. Ive been really lucky to have some good linemates this year," Kreider said. Nash scored and had two assists, while Stepan finished with a pair of helpers. Defenseman Michael Del Zotto -- a healthy scratch in the previous two games and five of the last eight -- also scored in New Yorks fourth victory in six games. Backup goaltender Cam Talbot made a career-high 35 ssaves, moving to 6-1-0 on the season. LeBron James Cavaliers Jersey. . He has not allowed more than two goals in any of his seven starts, the first of his NHL career, while giving some rest to No. 1 Henrik Lundqvist. The Jets visit New York looking to get their struggling power play on track. They went 0-for-6 in Fridays 2-1 setback to the Philadelphia Flyers and rank 28th in the league on the man advantage at 11.5 percent. Winnipeg also allowed its NHL high-tying fifth short-handed goal in Fridays defeat. "Our power play was disappointing. We cant get anything out of it and havent been able to through the years. Its not like its anything new for us. Finding solutions to that issue and problem is certainly a challenge for us," said Winnipeg coach Claude Noel. Michael Frolik had a third-period goal and Ondrej Pavelec made 32 saves for the Jets, who had won the first two of a six-game road trip and fell to 2-3-2 in their past seven games overall. Winnipeg lost forward Evander Kane to a lower-body injury in the first period and he did not skate in Saturdays outdoor practice in Central Park. He is tied for second on the club with seven goals, but has not been ruled out for this game. The Jets have lost five of their last seven meetings with the Rangers, including three of the four games played in New York since the Winnipeg franchise relocated from Atlanta. Lundqvist is 10-7-6 with a 2.19 goals against average in his career versus the franchise, while Pavelec has gone 4-4-1 with a 2.34 GAA lifetime against the Rangers. ' ' '  |
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