HOUSTON -- The Houston Rockets solved their fourth-quarter problems from the previous game and put away the San Antonio Spurs. Dave Bolland Panthers Jersey . Kevin Martin scored 25 points, Kyle Lowry had 14 points and eight assists and the streaking Rockets took advantage of Tim Duncans absence in a 105-102 victory Saturday night. Goran Dragic scored 14 and Montreals Samuel Dalembert added 12 points and a season-high six blocks for the Rockets, who have won six in a row. The Rockets were coming off a 90-88 win over New Orleans in which they tied a franchise record with only seven points in the final quarter. They outscored the Spurs 28-27 in the fourth on Saturday, shooting 59 per cent from the field (10 for 17). "It was definitely great to get over that hump," Lowry said. Tony Parker had 24 points and a season-high 13 assists for the Spurs, who were playing their fourth game in five nights. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich rested Duncan, who played 25 minutes in Friday nights loss to Sacramento. Tiago Splitter had a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who dropped to 1-6 on the road. San Antonio trailed 101-99 with a minute left. The Rockets nearly lost the ball in the backcourt, but Dragic picked it up and just beat the shot clock with a one-hander to put Houston up by four. Richard Jefferson sank a three-pointer with 11 seconds left, but Martin made two free throws to put it away for the Rockets. "Some days, there are no excuses. They made plays at the end of the game," Jefferson said. "Tony had a great game, Tiago had a great game, two teams were battling back and forth. They made the right plays, we had a shot to tie it, and we dont get it done. Simple enough." The Rockets shot 56 per cent (44 of 79) to make up for the Spurs 43-32 edge in rebounds. "This was a tough one," Splitter said. "We did a good job, but they hit unbelievable shots at the end." Houston opened the game with a 9-0 run after the Spurs missed their first four shots and coughed up three turnovers in the first 2 1/2 minutes. The Rockets continued to shoot well in the second quarter, but the Spurs began scoring inside to stay close. Parker turned a steal into a fast-break layup, then hit a driving one-hander to tie it 41-all. Dalembert dunked with a minute left in the half, and Houston led 55-49 at the break. Parker had 13 points and seven assists in the first half. "Tony was kind of in the one-man-game thing, going mid-screen," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "He was just making plays." Matt Bonner and Jefferson opened the second half with three-pointers to tie it again. Martin then scored the next seven points, finishing the burst with his second three-pointer. With Parker on the bench for much of the third quarter, the Spurs rallied again and Splitters layup cut the deficit to 72-71. Parker returned with 2:21 left in the quarter, and his long jumper just before the quarter buzzer drew the Spurs to 77-75. Parker then came out of the game and did knee bends behind the bench, with a towel and a heating pad pressed against his left hip. San Antonio led 84-83 when he returned with 7:39 remaining. "We believe we can win with whatever lineup we put out there," Bonner said. Lowrys three-pointer with 3:07 left put Houston up 99-92. The Rockets went 0 for 8 from three-point range in Thursdays win over New Orleans. "We made shots," Lowry said. "We tried to push the tempo a little bit and use our speed and quickness to our advantage." Bonner hit a three and Gary Neal made a running shot to quickly get the Spurs back in it. But Dragic ended up with the ball after a scramble and hit a mid-range jumper. "Guys were making plays," Martin said. "Kyle played great, Goran played great and then defensively, we were at our best, once again. It was a grind-it-out game." Notes: The Spurs are 1-3 starting their stretch of 16 of 21 games on the road. ... Splitter recorded his second double-double. ... Parker was four assists shy of his career high, set last season. ... The Rockets have held double-digit leads in nine straight games, tying the longest streak since 2008-09. ... The teams were playing for the third time this season, and wrap up their four-game season series in San Antonio on Feb. 1. Jimmy Hayes Panthers Jersey . The big first baseman just wanted to make sure it was fair before he got started on one enjoyable trip around the bases. Jussi Jokinen Panthers Jersey . 1 Jelena Jankovic highlighted Mondays opening-round winners at the $2 million Dubai Duty Free Championships.MONTREAL – The meeting between Leafs general manager Dave Nonis and Phil Kessel last week had little to do with contract negotiations. Instead, Nonis and Kessel were sorting through the fallout of a wild melee with the Buffalo Sabres, one that saw Kessel suspended for the duration of the pre-season. "He brought up to me how important it was to stay," Nonis said on Tuesday afternoon of the conversation with Kessel. "And thats when we started negotiations. There werent negotiations early in camp. I wanted to hear from him and I wanted him to tell me that he wanted to be a Toronto Maple Leaf. And once he did, we worked quickly and were able to reach an agreement." Kessel, who will turn 26 on Wednesday, and the Leafs agreed to an eight-year deal that will pay the winger $8 million per season, keeping him in Toronto until beyond his 34th birthday. "Ive always wanted to be here," said Kessel, who expressed no interest in negotiating an extension during the season, the deadline thus ticking in recent hours. "Its a place I wanted to play, want to finish my career here. Its a great city. The organization is unbelievable and Im real excited to continue here." Only two players in the NHL have finished top-10 in league scoring in each of the past two seasons: Lightning star Steven Stamkos and Kessel. Its that level of production, not easily replaced in todays NHL, which enticed the Leafs to lock him up as a cornerstone for the long-term, longer in fact than any player on the roster. "If you want to retain an elite player, youre going to probably have to give them fairly lengthy term," Nonis insisted, the David Clarkson seven-year deal this past summer another example of such requirements. "What you want to make sure of or be as comfortable as you can be that that player is going to be able to perform at a high level for most, if not all of it. And again, Phil being 26-years-old, Im pretty comfortable that weve got, hopefully, the best eight years of his career." Though he enters his eighth NHL season, Kessel remains relatively young and has demonstrated in recent years an ability to grow – both on and off the ice – and further mold an overall game thaat had been previously lacking. Aaron Ekblad Authentic Jersey. Maybe most striking, however, and most prominent in the playoffs last spring was the intensity he presented against the Bruins, a handful opposite Chara and company with four goals and six points in the seven-game series. "Its not like he hadnt done anything prior to that series, but his desire to win and to compete and do things that dont come natural to him, I think that opened a lot of peoples eyes," Nonis said. "One thing with that is he has to continue doing that and he knows it." "I think maybe some people dont think he has a ton of compete in him, but we in the room know he does," said Tyler Bozak, who remained a Leaf this past summer with a five-year deal. "He puts up those points every single year for a reason." Kessel had scored 30 goals for four consecutive seasons before tallying 20 in the shortened 48-game schedule last year. Only three players have found twine more in the past three seasons, an impressive trio that includes Corey Perry, Alex Ovechkin and Stamkos. Whether that line of production continues to ascend though will be up to the player, according to Nonis. "Its going to be where he wants it to go," Nonis stated. "If he wants to continue that compete that he showed in the postseason... if he wants to continue to work on his conditioning and his strength and his playmaking and all those things that have improved over the last three or four years, Phil should continue to improve. We shouldnt see a flat-line, he should keep getting better." Dion Phaneuf is the next contract for Nonis and his management team to work on, the Leafs captain unsigned beyond this season. Ahead in the summer of 2014 looms a daunting list that includes Jake Gardiner (RFA), James Reimer (RFA), Cody Franson (RFA), Mark Fraser (RFA), Mason Raymond (UFA), Paul Ranger (UFA), Nik Kulemin (UFA) and Dave Bolland (UFA). With Kessel now securely in the fold though, the Leafs do have a core group of forwards locked up long-term, with Clarkson, Bozak, Joffrey Lupul, and James van Riemsdyk all signed until at least the conclusion of the 2016-2017 season. cheap jerseyswholesale jerseys ' ' '
