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SACRAMENTO, Calif. Kevin Jepsen Jersey . -- James Harden spent the fourth quarter smiling on the Houston Rockets bench. DeMarcus Cousins finished the final period in the Sacramento Kings locker room. Their performances were just as different on the floor, too. Harden scored a season-high 43 points in three quarters, and the Rockets routed the Kings 129-103 on Tuesday night after Cousins was ejected for vehemently arguing with an official. "These are the type of wins that we need, especially late in the season, to lock down and focus," Harden said. Harden helped Houston go ahead by 25 points in the first quarter, 31 in the second and 33 in the third. He shot 11 of 20 from the floor, made 15 of 16 free throws and added eight assists, three steals and two rebounds. Dwight Howard left briefly after banging his right knee but returned to finish with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Chandler Parsons had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Rockets, who have won 10 of their last 11 games. "You get a big lead early youre always a little concerned about keeping everybodys interests. They did a nice job," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. Cousins had 16 points and six rebounds for the Kings before needing to be restrained after getting ejected in the third quarter. He picked up his NBA-leading 14th and 15th technical fouls. "He lost his composure, thats all I saw, and then he got thrown out of the game. Its disappointing. But to be honest, Im more disappointed about how we played," Kings coach Michael Malone said. "Do I condone his actions? No, not at all. Does he have to handle himself better? Sure he does. We just need to get him to understand that we dont need him to get kicked out of the ball game." Cousins did not speak with reporters but wrote on Twitter: "Disappointed with the way I acted out on the court tonight. I want to apologize and say sorry to my team and the fans for letting them down." Rudy Gay added 25 points and six assists, and Ben McLemore scored 15 points for a Sacramento team that looked nothing like the one that beat the Rockets twice previously this season. The teams split four games. The Rockets outshot Sacramento 56.9 per cent to 40 per cent. It was the most points the Kings had allowed all season, surpassing a 125-117 loss at Denver on Jan. 26. Sacramento was trying to win three consecutive games for only the second time all season. Instead, Harden and the Rockets turned the game into a layup line. Harden had 22 points and four assists in the first quarter to help Houston go ahead 42-17. The only downer during the run came when Howard and Cousins banged knees. Howard limped to the locker room and returned with black leggings underneath his shorts midway through the second quarter. "It still hurts. Ill just try to do whatever I can to prevent my knee from getting too stiff to where I cant play," said Howard, who hopes to start again Wednesday night at the Los Angeles Clippers. Even while Howard and Harden sat out, the Kings never halted Houstons quick-strike offence. Jeremy Lins uncontested layup gave the Rockets a 50-19 lead with 9:49 remaining before the half. Malone called timeout, and fans showered the home team with boos. Sacramento sliced Houstons lead to 69-51 at the half before Cousins completely lost his composure when the Rockets roared back in the third quarter. Officials called Cousins for a technical after he was whistled for a foul against Howard and shouted at them. Cousins picked up his fifth personal foul moments later, then got called for another technical foul -- earning an automatic ejection -- after screaming in the face of official Courtney Kirkland during a timeout. Cousins had to be held back by coaches and teammates, pointing his finger and screaming at Kirkland. He flicked his headband into the stands on his way to the locker room. If Cousins gets another technical foul this season, he will be suspended by the NBA for one game. The last two seasons Cousins has needed to have a technical foul rescinded by the league to avoid the automatic suspension that comes when a player reaches 16 technicals. NOTES: Houston hasnt lost a non-overtime game since Jan. 25 at Memphis. ... Kings G Jimmer Fredette was not at the game. The Kings and Fredette are working to complete a buyout of his contract. .... The Rockets have won all 17 games in 2014 when scoring at least 100 points. The last such loss came against Sacramento on Dec. 31, when the Kings beat the Rockets 110-106 in Houston. Mike Trout Authentic Jersey . As Valanciunas was whistled for a rare technical toward the end of the third quarter - a result of waving his hand at an official after being called for a foul - Lowry pulled the Raptors sophomore aside, corralling him by his jersey and patting him on the back.David Freese Authentic Jersey . The squad is expected to be divided into 23 players with seven back-ups, although FIFA regulations require only a 30-man provisional squad to be named by May 13. VIENNA, Austria -- Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga outlasted the 149th-ranked Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) Friday to reach the semifinals of the Erste Bank Open. Tsonga will take on Robin Haase of the Netherlands for a place in Sundays final, while second-seeded Tommy Haas of Germany faces Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic in the other semifinal. The eighth-ranked Frenchman, who won the event in 2011, missed a match point at 5-4 in the final set but converted his second chance in the tiebreaker after 2 hours, 15 minutes as Thiem hit a forehand long. "I was really poor from the baseline but I served well," said Tsonga, who had 16 aces. "I have played many matches like this so I have the experience. That made the difference. I am not in a good shape, I have to fight to win matches." The 20-year-old Thiem, who played in only his second quarterfinal, said the match was "unbelievable." "A third-set tiebreaker means the match could have gone either way," Thiem said. "I am proud I could match a top-10 player." Haas reached his seventh semifinal of the season by defeating fifth-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 7-6 (10), 6-3. The victory kept the 12th-ranked German in the running to qualify for next months ATP World Tour Finals in London. &qquot;I live from match to match," said Haas, who has never before played in the season-ending event. Rod Carew Angels Jersey. Haas failed to serve out the opening set at 6-5 but won the tiebreaker after saving four set points for Stepanek. He converted his only break point in the second set. "It was mentally and physically tough," the second-seeded Haas said. "The tiebreaker was really great from both of us. I felt it was important to win it. If Id lost it, I would have been very frustrated." Haase, who won both his career titles in Austria, rallied to defeat third-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1 to advance to his fourth semifinal of the season. Haase didnt face a break point in the entire match. Fognini had 32 baseline errors and ended the match with his second double-fault. "I had my chances in the first set as well but lost it as he played an incredible passing shot," Haase said. "When I was 3-1 up in the decider and won five straight points from 40-0 down, I knew I wasnt going to lose this match." Earlier, Rosol beat Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Rosol broke the 176th-ranked qualifier once each in the first and final sets to reach his second career semifinal, and first since winning his maiden title in Bucharest in April. cheap jerseys from china cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
