Spieler Melden » since Game 2 of last seasons

HOUSTON -- This is how Dwight Howard plays when hes healthy. Adrian Beltre Jersey . Howard had 17 points and a career-high-tying 26 rebounds in his Houston debut, James Harden added 21 points and the Rockets cruised to a 96-83 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. Howard spurned the Lakers to sign an $88 million deal with Houston, joining Harden and a team that made the playoffs last season for the first time since 2009. He said he rushed back too quickly from off-season back surgery last year and never felt quite right in his one disappointing season with Los Angeles. He believes hes returned to form since arriving in Houston and on Wednesday night he showed it. When asked if he could have had a game like this last season, he chuckled. "Physically, I doubt it," he said. "Not the way I did tonight." He said there were times last season that he just couldnt do things he was used to doing. "My mind was at the ball, but my body was still on the other side," he said. "I couldnt do it. Im a lot healthier than I was last season." It was the 63rd 20-plus rebound game of his career, but he was hoping for more. "I really was trying to get 30," he said. "I said coming in tonight that I wanted to get 30 rebounds. I was upset that I didnt do it, but Ill try the next game." The Rockets led by four points in the fourth quarter before using a 14-4 run to extend the lead to 86-72 with about 3 1/2 minutes left. Harden tossed an alley-oop to Howard for a dunk during that span. The crowd roared as Howard pointed and smiled at his new teammate. "He was amazing," Harden said. "Running the floor, rebounding the basketball ... and finishing the basketball. You know, doing what he does. Hes a game changer." Another dunk by Howard, this one a two-handed slam, capped the spurt. Howard didnt want to talk too much about how big this first game was after his off-season talk of joining the Rockets to help them win championships. "I didnt want to put any pressure on myself," he said. "I just wanted to go out there and play and have fun and get back to being who I am as a player. I think when you focus too much on that and what everybody else is saying thats when you dont play like you want to play." Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said dealing with both Harden and Howard was difficult. "They played to their strengths and we werent able to hold them when we needed to," he said. The Bobcats were led by Josh McRoberts, who had 15 points. Houston coach Kevin McHale stayed with the big lineup he first used late in the preseason with 7-footer Omer Asik at centre and Howard at power forward. But he switched things up and started Patrick Beverley over Jeremy Lin at point guard. Beverley injured his ribs in the second quarter and didnt return. Lin received stitches to his chin, but returned to the game. Harden was dealing with a sore wrist and back, but said hed be OK by Houstons next game on Friday. Beverley finished with five points and Lin added 16. Francisco Garcia had five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points. Al Jefferson started after missing most of the preseason with a sprained right ankle. Jefferson, who signed a three-year, $41 million deal in the off-season, had 13 points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes. "I was a little rusty and I most definitely am not in game shape and I missed a lot of shots I would normally make," he said. Houston led by eight points after a putback layup by Howard early in the third quarter. Jefferson got the Bobcats going after that, scoring four points in a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 51-48. A 3-pointer by McRoberts about three minutes later got Charlotte within 57-56. But Lin answered with a 3-pointer that was the first of six straight points for Houston, which pushed the lead to 63-56. Houston led 67-61 at the end of the third quarter. Charlotte is looking to bounce back from a terrible two-year stretch where the team posted an NBA-worst 28-120 record. They added Jefferson and drafted Cody Zeller with the fourth overall pick in an attempt to bolster the lineup. Zeller had two points and four rebounds in about 15 minutes. Howard was given what at first was called a flagrant foul after what looked like a light push at the midsection of McRoberts with about two minutes remaining in the first half. McRoberts got in Howards face after the foul before teammates pulled him away. The play was reviewed and changed to a personal foul, but Howard went to the bench anyway. McRoberts made both free throws and Howard returned in the third quarter. NOTES: The Rockets picked up the third-year option on the contracts of forward Terrence Jones and forward/centre Donatas Motiejunas on Wednesday. ... Former Rockets star Tracy McGrady, who retired from the NBA this summer, watched the game from a courtside seat next to team owner Leslie Alexander and got a loud ovation when he was introduced during a timeout in the second quarter. Bartolo Colon Jersey . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Prince Fielder Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.officialrangersgearshop.com/Rangers-Rougned-Odor-Kids-Jersey/ . (January 11, 2014) – Once again Kevin Martin proved why he is the all-time TSN skins leader, winning $11,500 in prize money and a spot in the Travelers All-Star Curling Skins Game presented by Pintys final following a semifinal victory over Brad Jacobs earlier this evening at the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre in Banff, Alta.LOS ANGELES -- After Patrick Marleaus fourth career playoff overtime goal silenced Staples Center for maybe the next-to-last time this season, the veteran San Jose Sharks forward attributed his knack for post-season heroics to one simple trait. "Well, you just try to shoot it on net," Marleau said. "This one was not a hard shot by any means, but you just get it to the net." Thats how good things happen for Marleau and the Sharks, who weathered the Los Angeles Kings best game of the series and emerged on the brink of advancement. Marleau scored 6:20 into overtime, and the Sharks beat the Kings 4-3 on Tuesday night to take a 3-0 first-round series lead. Rookie Tomas Hertl tied it with 10:43 left in regulation for the Sharks, who had to grind out a nail-biting victory after two blowout wins in San Jose. But the Sharks have won five straight overtime playoff games and 10 of their past 11, with Marleau repeatedly delivering the decisive blow. "For Patty Marleau to come up with that goal, its just huge for us," captain Joe Thornton said. "It was just going back and forth." The Kings largely controlled overtime until Marleaus shot banked off Kings defenceman Slava Voynovs stick on its way past Jonathan Quick, who made 36 saves in his third straight loss. Marleaus goal was his third of the series. "They had the bat in their hands, and they were going to swing it," San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. "They had us on our heels, but sometimes it goes that way. We will take that break." Matt Nieto got his first career playoff goal for the Sharks, and Brent Burns also scored. Antti Niemi stopped 28 shots for San Jose, winning three straight in the matchup of Stanley Cup-winning goalies. Game 4 is Thursday in Los Angeles. Los Angeles has slipped to the brink of first-round elimination just two years after its Stanley Cup title run. The Kings were the NHLs best defensive team during the regular season, but theyve allowed 17 goals in the first three games of this series. Only three teams have ever rallied to win a best-of-seven NHL playoff series after trailing 0-3. "It was a better effort," said leading scorer Anze Kopitar, who doesnt have a goal in the series. "We had some chances, but it wasnt enough. Were going to have to come back in a couple of days and throw everything at them. Ivan Rodriguez Jersey. quot; Jeff Carter tipped in a tiebreaking goal for Los Angeles on a power play early in the third period, but Hertl evened it right after a power play expired. San Jose dominated the third, but Quick made 23 saves to send the Kings into their first overtime playoff game at home in three years. Marian Gaborik scored and Jarret Stoll ended his 29-game playoff goal drought for the Kings, who stumbled back home after opening the series with two disastrous games at the Shark Tank. The Kings nervous fans got quiet early on when Burns partly whiffed on a wrist shot and produced a knuckling puck that sailed past Quick just 10 seconds into a Sharks power play. Stoll evened it with his first playoff goal in two years early in the second period. Stoll hadnt found the net in the post-season since his series-clinching overtime goal against Vancouver in 2012. Gaborik then put the Kings ahead all by himself, lugging the puck from the opposite blue line and beating Niemi with a vicious backhand. "I think our better players were better," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. "That was noticeable. That will give us a chance next game." San Jose evened it 1:18 later when Nieto, from nearby Long Beach, scored into an open net. Quick had been knocked to the ice by Kings defenceman Robyn Regehr moments earlier. Carter capitalized in the waning seconds of a power play by tipping Anze Kopitars shot in front for his first playoff score since Game 2 of last seasons Western Conference finals, ending a personal 393:34 drought. Hertl converted his own rebound midway through the period to even it again, scoring on the rink where a knee-on-knee hit from Dustin Brown sidelined the Czech rookie for 45 games earlier this season. NOTES: The Kings scratched F Colin Fraser after recalling the two-time Stanley Cup champion from the AHL earlier in the day. Los Angeles also scratched F Kyle Clifford, who went scoreless with a minus-3 and 16 penalty minutes in the first two games, and D Matt Greene, a minus-4 in the series. ... The Kings dressed F Tanner Pearson, who made his NHL playoff debut last season before he had ever played in a regular-season NHL game. ... Los Angeles played its 41st playoff game in the past three seasons, the most by any NHL team in that span. Cheap Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Marlins Jerseys Cheap Mets Jerseys Cheap Phillies Jerseys Cheap Nationals Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Cheap Reds Jerseys Cheap Brewers Jerseys Cheap Pirates Jerseys Cheap Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Rockies Jerseys Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Padres Jerseys Cheap Giants Jerseys ' ' '