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HOUSTON -- The Houston Rockets recently have developed a knack for playing great in the third quarter. Coach Kevin McHale loves what his team has been doing after the break and wishes they could find that intensity early in games. James Harden tied a season high with 38 points, Dwight Howard added 20 points and 13 rebounds and the Rockets used a big third-quarter run to earn a 113-99 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night. Howard got his first win against his former team as the Rockets sent the injury-riddled Lakers to their third straight loss. "We did a better job in the second half of defending," McHale said. "It was a big difference in the game." The Rockets trailed by a basket in the third quarter before going on a 17-2 run to take an 80-67 lead and roll to victory. Harden hopes they can find a way to play better early when they leave Houston for a long road trip on Thursday. "At the beginning of the game ... we have to come out with a sense of urgency," he said. "We cant put ourselves in situations like that because on the road these four games anything is possible and if we do that, some games we might not be able to come back." Harden continued his recent torrid scoring with his third straight 30-point game. He has piled up 113 points in the last three games combined. Nick Young scored 25 points to lead Los Angeles and Pau Gasol and Jodie Meeks scored 21 each. Ronnie Brewer started for the first time this season in place of the injured Chandler Parsons, who was out with a sore right knee. Howard made a season-high four steals, Harden collected a season-best five steals, and Terrence Jones had 15 points and 13 rebounds. The Lakers had a two-point lead midway through the third quarter when Houston got rolling, scoring seven straight points thanks to a 3-pointer by Harden and back-to-back buckets by Howard to take a 70-65 lead. The second one brought the crowd to its feet when Harden swiped a bad pass from Kendall Marshall and tossed up an alley-oop that Howard finished with a monster two-handed slam. That spurt was the beginning of the 17-2 burst that extended Houstons lead to 80-67 with about two minutes left in the quarter. Harden was on fire in that span, scoring nine points and drawing a collective "ooh" from the crowd when he crossed up rookie Ryan Kelly on a layup to cap it. Los Angeles was as cold as Harden was hot, missing five shots and committing three turnovers while the Rockets built the lead. "We seem to run out of energy," Los Angeles coach Mike DAntoni said. "I dont know if they are getting tired or its just the other team turns on the burners." 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 admitted after practice Tuesday that he was ticked off that Los Angeles came out on top in the first meeting earlier this season. The centre missed several key free throws down the stretch in that one, a one-point win by the Lakers in November when they employed the Hack-A-Howard strategy. They were down by 14 points when they used that approach again Wednesday night, fouling him every time Houston got the ball for a two-minute span ending with about two minutes left. "Its nothing I like," DAntoni said. "It makes an ugly game, but were trying to get a win." Howard made just six of 14, but Houstons lead was so big this time it didnt matter. He finished 10 of 24 from the free throw line. "I was upset at myself for missing all those," Howard said. "I just have to get better at it." He wouldnt acknowledge that this win meant any more than beating any other team. But said it was important for the team to win in general to get going for the road trip. The Lakers, who are missing Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Jordan Farmar and Steve Blake with various injuries, lost for the ninth time in 10 games. Houston opened the second half with a 9-3 run to take a 61-60 lead with about 8 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. Jones scored the last four points of that run. The Lakers led 57-52 at halftime. NOTES: Houston C Omer Asik missed his 17th straight game right thigh and knee injuries. ... Houstons Greg Smith sat out with a sprained right knee. ... New Houston Texans coach Bill OBrien watched the game from a courtside seat. Nike Free 3.0 V6 Womens Orange . -- The first bad-news call of Mike Zimmers career as a head coach came late at night but early in his first season with the Minnesota Vikings: Defensive tackle Linval Joseph had been shot in the leg at a downtown bar after the teams first exhibition game. Nike Free 3.0 V6 Mens Red . A judge had summoned Clemens and Brian McNamee to federal court in Brooklyn for settlement talks aimed at heading off a trial in the defamation case. McNamees lawyer emerged saying an agreement wasnt likely. "I think this is a case where the lines are deeply drawn in the sand," said attorney Richard Emery. http://www.freeflykint-uk.biz/nike-free-3-0-cross-training/nike-free-3-0-v4-mens.html . - Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery was so busy in free agency he didnt mind having a few extra weeks to prepare for the draft. Nike Free 3.0 V4 Mens Orange . Winless against its arch rival since 2001, Canada dropped its latest contest -- a friendly between the two nations on Friday night -- 1-0 on a goal by Canadian-born Sydney Leroux. Nike Free 3.0 V4 Mens Black .com) - The Atlanta Braves won their first National League East title since 2005 thanks in large part to their strong play at home. SAN DIEGO -- Tim Lincecum doesnt pitch like the two-time Cy Young award winner from five years ago. Hes just beginning to get similar results. The right-hander struggled after winning the honour in 2008 and 2009, but a retooling of his game has begun to pay off and has the San Francisco Giants thinking about the Lincecum of old. After throwing a no-hitter against San Diego 11 days ago, Lincecum took a shutout into the seventh inning Sunday to lead the Giants to a 5-3 win over the Padres. Lincecum (8-5) extended his scoreless streak to 23 1-3 innings before Brooks Conrad hit a solo homer in the seventh to knock him out of the game. The streak started with his second career no-hitter against San Diego on June 25. Lincecum followed that with eight scoreless innings in a 5-0 win over St. Louis on Tuesday. Although this is not the overpowering Lincecum who won the Cy Young in consecutive years, the results are impressive. "Im not going to overpower teams with my stuff," Lincecum said. "Im just going to have to mix my pitches and locations. Im doing a good job of that. Im not missing in big spots with pitches." He allowed one run on three hits, walked four and struck out six. Lincecum has won all three starts this season against San Diego and improved his mark against the Padres to 16-6 in 29 career starts. Lincecum threw his first no-hitter at San Diego on July 13, 2013. "Timmys just been on a good roll," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "How poised hes been, how easy his delivery has been." The Giants have been down this road before with Lincecum since he began struggling after his last Cy Young season and lacked the consistency that had marked the early part of his career. Bochy thinks this recent stretch may last. "Hes reinvented himself," Bochy said. "I think he has a better idea of what he wants to do as far as pitching. Hes become more of a pitcher. It was pure stuff early on in his career. Hes gotten more cerebral with the pitching side of it." Lincecum also believes he may be able to sustain his most recent success as compared to other stretches when it didnt last. "Its just a feeling I have right now," he said. "I look for consistency and this is about as consistent as I have been in the last few years. Hopeefully, this is the start of something good.dddddddddddd" The Giants, who had dropped 18 of 22 games after they lost the opener Friday, won two straight to win only their second series in nearly a month. Brandon Belt drove in two runs for San Francisco and Hunter Pence had three hits, extending his season-best hitting streak to 11 games, and scored three runs. Rookie Joe Panik and Michael Morse each had an RBI. Three relievers combined with Lincecum on a four-hitter. Santiago Casilla pitched the ninth for his third save in six chances. The Padres did not get their first hit off Lincecum until there were two outs in the fourth. Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run homer, his seventh, off former closer Sergio Romo in the eighth inning to cut the Giants lead to 5-3. Rookie Jessie Hahn (4-2) lost his four-start winning streak, allowing three runs on five hits over seven innings in his sixth major league start. The left-hander struck out five and walked two. "In the early innings, they were sitting on my curveball, so I had to make some adjustments," Hahn said. Hahn retired 11 straight batters after he allowed Morses RBI single to fall behind 3-0 in the third. "The second half of his outing was outstanding," Padres manager Bud Black said. "I was really impressed with how Jesse hung in there." Belt singled in a run in the first and had a sacrifice fly in San Franciscos two-run eighth. NOTES: Lincecums career best for scoreless innings is 29 in 2009. ... Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval, who left Saturday nights game with a left elbow bruise after he was hit while swinging at a pitch, did not play. ... The Giants 5-3 win Saturday night in 10 innings was just the clubs third victory since moving to San Francisco in 1958 in which the team won a game with a game-tying homer in the ninth inning and a game-winning home run in the 10th, according to information provided to the Giants by the Elias Sports Bureau. ... Giants RHP Ryan Vogelsong (5-5, 3.86 ERA) is scheduled to face As RHP Jesse Chavez (6-5, 3.23) in the opener of a three-game series at Oakland on Monday. ... The Padres travel to Colorado with RHP Ian Kennedy (6-9, 3.87) going against Rockies LHP Tyler Matzek (1-2, 4.25) in the opener of a three-game set. cheap jerseys cheap jerseys china cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '