Regeln » le bit. "You know if teams are going to give me that, for th

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Dwight Howards face might have been stinging from Kevin Garnett ramming his head into it, and now his ears were ringing as fans directed loud boos toward him.Howard wasnt tempted to silence them by demanding the ball at the expense of Houstons offence. He was after a win, not revenge.As long as we win the game, thats all that matters, Howard said. Weve got 82 games and the playoffs. Ill do my damage when its time.James Harden scored 30 points, carrying Houston on a night when Howard did little after fighting with Garnett, and the Rockets beat the slumping Brooklyn Nets 113-99 on Monday.Garnett was ejected in the first quarter after head-butting Howard in the face and throwing the ball at him, while Howard received a technical foul after appearing to punch or slap Garnett in the neck.Howard finished with eight points and five rebounds, but the Rockets didnt need much in the middle while dominating from the outside with 16 3-pointers in 40 attempts.The only time they really were stopped is when referees halted the action to review video of the scuffle.I think weve been locked in these last few games and so a little hesitation wasnt going to stop us from our goal, and that was to win the game, Harden said.Mason Plumlee scored a career-high 24 points for the Nets, who lost their sixth straight.Kevin did a lot for us, got us going, Plumlee said of Garnett, who didnt speak to reporters. Those are the kind of games as a team you want to win and we didnt do that.Houston has won four in a row, all by double digits, and blew away a Nets team that had held its previous eight opponents under 100 points, the longest streak in the NBA this season.The Nets consistently lost Houstons shooters on the perimeter, and the Rockets easily surpassed their NBA-best average of 11.8 3-pointers per game.They already had 17 points before Garnett became angry after he was called for a foul against Howard with 7:53 left in the first quarter. The players lightly shoved each other before Garnett threw the ball into Howards back, and as the players went face-to-face, Garnett rammed his head into the area near Howards mouth.Howard responded with his right hand, and even after the players were separated, Garnett tried to get at Howard again before being escorted toward the locker room.In the good old days that was a play-on, now they throw people out, Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. I dont think it was that big of a deal.Howard received only a technical foul, with Nets coach Lionel Hollins saying officials told him it didnt look like Howard threw a punch. If the NBA decides otherwise after a review, he could be suspended Wednesday when the Rockets return to Orlando, his longtime NBA home.Thats not up to me, Howard said.The Rockets broke a tie atop the Southwest Division with the Memphis Grizzlies, whom the Nets host on Wednesday as Hollins faces his former team.TIP-INSRockets: A strange bit of scheduling had the Rockets in New York for the second time in five nights — but with a trip back to Houston in the middle. The Rockets won at the Knicks on Thursday, had to go home to play Utah on Saturday, then turned around and came right back to New York.Nets: Hollins, before the game, on the Nets offensive struggles: We have established an identity. We dont make shots. That is an identity. Among their problems, they came in ranked 25th in both points per game and 3-point shooting percentage. We have guys who have been great shooters or good shooters throughout their careers wherever theyve played and I dont know, maybe Im the problem, Hollins said. I dont shoot them, but Im sure that behind closed doors without the microphone on some players may say that Im the problem that they cant shoot.KEVIN ON KEVINMcHale had praise before the game for Garnett, who started as a teenager in Minnesota when McHale was the general manager and is now in his 20th season.He said, Im going to play longer in the NBA than Im old right now, McHale recalled. I said, You are absolutely out of your mind, but he did it.UP NEXTRockets: Visit Orlando on Wednesday.Nets: Host Memphis on Wednesday. Glenn Robinson Jersey . Simona Halep of Romania claimed the fifth title of her career by beating Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (1), 6-2 in the womens final. After trading sets, Gasquet trailed 4-3 in the decider but broke back to 4-4 in a game that went to seven deuces with Kukushkin constantly failing on his forehand shots. Lorenzo Cain Jersey .com) - Patrik Elias registered the winner in the shootout as New Jersey nipped Toronto 2-1 at Prudential Center on Wednesday. http://www.brewersteamshop.com/Brewers-Boone-Logan-Kids-Jersey/ . Mako Vunipola was promoted from the reserves, with Matt Mullan called up to the bench on Thursday. "It is important that Joe is with his partner at this exciting time," England coach Stuart Lancaster said. Jeremy Jeffress Jersey . Venus Williams advanced to the ASB Classic final in Auckland on a walkover when fellow American Jamie Hampton withdrew from their semifinal Friday with a right hip injury. Paul Molitor Jersey . -- Among the 31 players at the Montreal Canadiens rookie camp, none feels closer to cracking the NHL roster than right winger Aaron Palushaj.ST. LOUIS -- When it comes to being a hitter, St. Louis rookie Michael Wacha would rather talk about his pitching. Wacha threw seven innings and drove in two runs with a single, helping the Cardinals to a 5-3 victory Thursday over the Chicago Cubs. The 6-foot-6 Wacha (3-3) had lost his last three decisions since an April 13 win over the Cubs. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed seven hits, including a homer, but did not walk a batter. He struck out five. "I was able to pound the strike zone down in the zone and it was pretty effective," Wacha said. "I kept them off-balance, which means its a pretty good day. Its definitely nice to go deep into a ballgame and get a win. It definitely gets your confidence going in the next start thats for sure." Trevor Rosenthal pitched 1 2-3 innings for his 11th save. Rosenthal, who blew a save Tuesday, inherited a one-out, bases-loaded situation and gave up a sacrifice fly, but closed out the inning and retired the side in the ninth. The Cubs have lost nine of their last 11 and are off to the worst start in 39 games (13-26) since 2002. Jason Hammel (4-2) gave up five runs on five hits and two walks in 5 1-3 innings, raising his ERA to 3.06. Hammel had six strikeouts. St. Louis scored four runs in the second inning on Wachas two-run single in between a run-scoring groundout by Yadier Molina and Matt Carpenters RBI double. It was Wachas first hit and RBIs of the season. "Its nice to finally have a batting average," Wacha said. St. Louis manager Mike Matheny noted it was a timely hit. "Mike was good and obviously getting that hit there to drive in a couple runs it was kind of a huge boost to us at that point," Matheny said. With two outs, Hammel might have escaped with little damage but he had to throw a strike on a 3-2 count to Wacha and the bases loaded. "I got behind Wacha with two wild ones," Hammel said. "I came in with a fastball and he hit it." Chicago got two runs back in the fourth on a home run just inside the left-field foul pole by Starlin Castro. He drove in No. 3 hitter Anthony Rizzo, who beat the St. Louuis shift to the right side with his second bunt to the left side in two at-bats.dddddddddddd Rizzo has three career bunt singles with the Cubs with one coming in his previous 285 games. "If theyre going to give me that, I might as well take it," Rizzo said. "We were able to cash in once. I almost make them pay twice for it. Wacha is a great pitcher but you get him on the stretch and try to get him off his game a little bit. "You know if teams are going to give me that, for the most part, Im going to take it every time." When Rizzo came to bat in the fifth and seventh, St. Louis did not shift. "Rizzo took advantage of the shift until they changed their defence on him," Chicago manager Rick Renteria said. "That led to our first two runs when Starlin drove the ball out of the ballpark. Hes really looking at the game from a lot of different angles. Think about it, youre down four runs and a solo home run is not going to do a whole lot for you." The Cardinals made it 5-2 when Molina lined a 3-2 pitch just inside the line in left for a one-out RBI single. Junior Lake hit a sacrifice fly for a run in the eighth, but Rosenthal got out the jam. St. Louis lost a challenge in the third when Matt Holliday was called out on a close play at first after hitting a grounder to shortstop. The time of the review was 2 minutes, 54 seconds. NOTES: Missouris new basketball coach Kim Anderson threw out the first pitch. "It was an honour to throw the first ball out," he said. "I was nervous out there, but its something I will never forget." ... The Cardinals announced the time for making up Wednesdays game with the Cubs that was rained out. It will be played at 1:15 p.m. Aug. 30 as part of a split doubleheader. The second game will start at 7:15 p.m. instead of 6:15 p.m. ... The Cardinals recalled 2B Kolten Wong on Wednesday from Triple-A Memphis and optioned infielder Greg Garcia back to the club. Wong was optioned April 27 after hitting .225 in 20 games. He hit .344 in 10 games at Memphis. He was not in the starting lineup as he was still battling the effects of a stomach virus. ' ' '