to tie it at 5. Byrd walked to start Philadelphias four

CLEVELAND - The Houston Rockets played again without Dwight Howard. Unfortunately for the Cleveland Cavaliers, James Harden was in the building. Harden scored 37 points, including 17 in the third quarter, and the Rockets led from wire-to-wire in a 118-111 victory on Saturday night. With Howard out for a third straight game because of a sore left ankle, Harden provided a boost. He was 9 of 15 from the field, hit five 3-pointers, made all 14 of his free throws and had 11 assists without playing the fourth quarter after Houston built a 29-point lead late in the third. "Great players do that, they get going," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "Ive seen James do it countless times, but thats what separates him from a lot of players. He has the ability to do that." Harden dominated in just about every aspect of the game. He drove to the basket, buried shots from well beyond the 3-point line, converted free throws and found open teammates. "I just tried to be aggressive and be in attack mode to get to the rim," he said. "If the drive is there, I take it. If its not, Ill do something else. I just use my basketball instincts." Cleveland has lost four straight and played again without point guard Kyrie Irving, who has been sidelined for three games with a strained left biceps. Houston made its first four shots and took a quick lead in snapping a three-game road losing streak. The Rockets also strengthened their hold on the fourth spot in the Western Conference playoff race. Chandler Parsons scored 16 points for Houston while Patrick Beverly added 15. Dion Waiters led Cleveland with 26 points. Tyler Zeller added a career-high 23 points for the Cavaliers, who also played without forward Luol Deng (sprained left ankle). The Rockets played their reserves for most of the fourth and Cleveland cut into the margin. Harden had eight points and eight assists in the first quarter, which saw Cleveland coach Mike Brown call timeout twice in the first four minutes as Houston took a 17-4 lead. The margin reached 15 points in the second period and Houston shot 59 per cent in the first half. Cleveland scored the first seven points of the third quarter to cut the lead to 67-62, but Hardens five free throws sparked a 9-0 run and the Rockets regained control. His four-point play pushed the lead to 87-70. Harden hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key moments later, then added a dunk and another 3-pointer as the lead reached 101-72. "Obviously, Harden had a monster game," Brown said. Howard returned to practice Friday and participated in Saturday mornings shootaround, but didnt dress for the game. He played in each of Houstons first 66 games, but was a late scratch Monday, had a cyst removed from the ankle the following day and didnt play Thursday. "I dont think he feels quite good enough to play, but he feels much better," McHale said before the game. Houston is undefeated in the eight-time All-Stars absence. Howard scored 26 points and had six rebounds in the Rockets 106-92 win over Cleveland on Feb. 1. He averages 18.6 points and 12.4 rebounds for the season. Injuries and a brutal schedule have dropped Cleveland out of playoff contention. The Cavaliers are 2-8 in March and trail Atlanta by 6 1/2 games for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland, which has also dropped games to the Los Angeles Clippers, Miami and Oklahoma City in the streak, has lost eight of 10 and has dropped five straight at home. The Cavaliers fell behind by 24 points in Thursdays loss to the Thunder, a trend Brown is displeased with. "Thats two games in a row that weve come out and our first group has just been flat," he said. "Theyve been flat offensively, flat defensively. So its been an uphill battle, especially being short-handed." The difficult schedule continues Sunday when the Cavaliers travel to New York, which has won eight in a row. Cleveland was routed 113-86 on Jan. 30 at Madison Square Garden. The Rockets have won four straight and six of their last seven against the Cavaliers. Seth Curry, signed by Cleveland to a 10-day contract Friday, scored three points in eight minutes. Hes the younger brother of Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry. NOTES: Rockets guard Francisco Garcia isnt with the team because of personal reasons. ... In addition to missing Irving and Deng, the Cavaliers played without guard C.J. Miles (sprained left ankle) and forwards Anthony Bennett (strained left patellar) and Sergey Karasev (sore right knee). ... Seth Curry appeared in one game earlier this season for Memphis, playing four scoreless minutes. ... Houston plays at Charlotte on Monday. Air Max 1 Comprar Online . After rookie right-hander Alex Colome excelled in a 5-2 victory in the opener, the Rays fell to Chris Tillman and the Orioles 4-1 on Friday night. Nike Air Max 1 Venta ." Also, defencemen "were found to be at a higher risk of suffering a concussion than other players, perhaps due to turning their back to retrieve pucks along the boards, which leaves them vulnerable. http://www.airmax1baratas.es/ . Coach Randy Carlyle didnt know the severity of Bozaks injury. Bozak left the bench and went down the tunnel early in the second period, returned to play a handful of shifts and then did play in the third. Comprar Air Max 1 Baratas .com) - Its fair to call Mike McCarthy one of the best coaches in the NFL but its also more than objective to point out that the veteran mentor bookended the Green Bay Packers season with two, truly awful game plans in Seattle. Nike Air Max 1 España . -- Jonathan Vilmas season is over and his future on the football field is in doubt.PHILADELPHIA -- Reid Brignacs first start for the Philadelphia Phillies ended with him being mobbed by his teammates. Brignacs RBI single in the bottom of the 14th inning gave the Phillies a 6-5 win over the New York Mets on Friday night. Domonic Brown hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs for the Phillies, who snapped the Mets six-game winning streak at Citizens Bank Park, dating to last season. Marlon Byrd reached second when right fielder Chris Young dropped his fly ball for an error leading off the 14th. Carlos Ruiz followed with a single to centre off Jenrry Mejia (4-2) that sent Byrd to third. After pinch-hitter Cesar Hernandez was intentionally walked, Brignac drove an opposite-field shot that one-hopped the wall in left. Brignac rounded first base and kept running into shallow right field before he was swarmed by teammates. "I was just messing around, trying to make them catch me," Brignac said. "It felt great coming through." Brignac started at third base for Cody Asche, who is on the disabled list. Hernandez had played third since Asche got hurt. "That was a big swing," manager Ryne Sandberg said. Young refused to blame the wind for his error, even though it was blowing in hard by the end of the game. "I was looking dead at it when it was coming down," Young said. "I cant explain it. I have no idea how I dropped a routine fly ball, but it happened." Justin De Fratus (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings to earn the win. Phillies starter A.J. Burnett had a season-high 11 strikeouts, but allowed five runs and five hits in seven innings. He had to pitch out of trouble often because of six walks. "Im missing here and there, but six is a lot," Burnett said. "I have some work to do." Mets rookie Rafael Montero lasted just 3 2-3 innings, allowing four runs -- three earned --- and seven hits in the shortest of his four career starts.ddddddddddddComing off a 10-strikeout performance last Sunday against Arizona, Montero didnt fan any of Philadelphias strikeout-prone batters. The Phillies struck out 15 times in a 4-1 loss to the Mets on Thursday night. Bobby Abreu hit a two-run double to give the Mets a 5-4 lead in the fifth after David Wright and Curtis Granderson struck out with two runners on. But the Phillies answered in the bottom half against Daisuke Matsuzaka. Byrd walked, went to third on Ruizs double and scored on Browns groundout to tie it at 5. Byrd walked to start Philadelphias fourth and Ruiz singled. Brown then hit a high drive out to right to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead. Brown, an NL All-Star last year, was hitting .199 before connecting for his fourth homer this season. Brown hit 12 of his team-high 27 homers last May. Burnett helped himself with a leadoff single in the third. He went to third base when Abreu booted Jimmy Rollins single to right for an error. Chase Utley followed with an RBI groundout to cut it to 3-1. The Mets took a 3-0 lead in the second on Lucas Dudas RBI double, Travis dArnauds RBI groundout and Ruben Tejadas RBI single. NOTES: Abreu stole second base in the eighth for his 400th career steal. The call was upheld after a video review. ... Rollins had two hits, moving within 12 of passing Mike Schmidt for first on the Phillies career list. ... The Mets are playing five consecutive days in the same city on the road for the first time. ... Granderson was 0 for 3 with a walk. He is in an 0-for-19 slump. ... Burnett has walked five or more batters in four of his 12 starts. He had double-digit strikeouts for the 33rd time in his career. ... RHP Jacob deGrom (0-2, 1.83 ERA) pitches for the Mets on Saturday against Kyle Kendrick (1-5, 4.04). deGrom struck out as a pinch-hitter in the 14th. ' ' '