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Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - The Houston Rockets didnt miss a beat without Dwight Howard in the lineup, but theyre still happy to have him back. Howard had 26 points and 13 rebounds after missing the last 11 games with right knee soreness and the Rockets defeated the Denver Nuggets 108-96 on Saturday night. Howard initially began to experience slight pain in his knee during Houstons Nov. 17 game against the Memphis Grizzlies and had platelet-rich plasma therapy to restore the cartilage in his knee. The Rockets went 8-3 without Howard in the lineup. Im just glad that Im back out there with the team playing, healthy, Howard said. Its good being on the floor. Just thankful. James Harden posted a triple-double with 24 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds and Donatas Motiejunas added 25 points for Houston, which has won six of its last seven games. Ty Lawson tallied 19 points and 12 helpers, while Darrell Arthur supplied 20 points and six boards off the bench for the Nuggets, who have lost five of their last six games. We got dominated by their big guys inside, Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said. After Arron Afflalo nailed a 3-pointer to give the Nuggets a 40-26 margin at the 8:06 mark of the second, Houston responded with a 16-2 run to tie the game. Motiejunas poured in the first seven points of the surge and capped it with a triple to knot the contest at 42-42. Houston went on a late 7-0 spurt, with Hardens three-point play concluding it and helping the Rockets to a 54-46 cushion. Kenneth Farieds hook shot in the closing moments of the half got Denver within 54-48 heading into the break. The Rockets opened the second half on an 8-2 flurry to establish their first double-digit lead. Trevor Ariza capped the burst with a trey for a 62-50 spread. Houston was up 80-73 after three. The Rockets started the fourth on a 12-4 swing with a Patrick Beverley triple concluding it and give the Rockets a comfortable 92-77 advantage. They cruised to the victory from there. The Nuggets netted the final seven points of the first quarter, including Lawsons jumper at the buzzer, which staked them to a 31-21 advantage going into the second. Houston outscored Denver 33-17 in the second. Game Notes Howard was averaging 18.8 points and a team-leading 11.3 rebounds per game prior to being injured ... Houston had been 2-8 in its last 10 meetings against the Nuggets ... Denver fell to 4-9 on the road this season ... Houston held Denver to just 37.5 percent (36-of-96) from the floor ... Howard reached the 10,000 rebound mark for his career. Ashley Young Jersey . Henrik Samuelsson and Luke Bertolucci also scored for the Oil Kings, who are now 9-0 on home ice in the playoffs to cut Portlands series lead to 2-1. Chase De Leo and Mathew Dumba responded for the Winterhawks, who suffered just their fourth loss in their last 46 games, a string of success running all the way back to Jan. Sergio Romero Jersey . The team said they will announce a corresponding roster move prior to their series opener on Tuesday night in Kansas City. http://www.manutdfcsoccershop.com/c-5-ma...-fc-jersey.aspx. Judging by his performance Saturday night, Cotto has plenty left in the tank. Cotto became the first Puerto Rican fighter to win world championships in four weight divisions, stopping Sergio Martinez in their WBC world middleweight title fight Saturday night. Ander Herrera Jersey . -- When Steve Blake checked in at the scorers table with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter, Stephen Curry shook his head and shouted across the court, asking Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson not to take him out. Victor Lindelof Jersey . -- Howie Kendrick had a two-run single in his first game batting leadoff this season, Chris Iannetta hit a pair of RBI singles and the Los Angeles Angels beat Cleveland 6-4 Tuesday night, sending the Indians to their fifth straight defeat.TORONTO -- After months of speculation, Toronto FC is finally set to introduce the men it hopes will take the underachieving MLS team to the promised land -- England international striker Jermain Defoe and U.S. international midfielder Michael Bradley. The club has already announced the signing of Defoe, with the 31-year-old Spurs star set to be unveiled at a news conference Monday morning at the huge high-tech sports bar owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment across the street from the Air Canada Centre. The invitation said nothing about the 26-year-old Bradley although his former club AS Roma has already announced the American has been sold to Major League Soccer for US$10 million. A source confirmed that Bradleys signing is part of Mondays TFC gala. The black hole surrounding Bradley is likely linked to the fact that Defoes signing brings Toronto to the league limit of three designated players, adding to newly signed Brazilian striker Gilberto and incumbent Argentine midfielder Matias Laba. Bradley would make four, meaning Toronto has to do something with Laba, either trading him or restructuring his deal short of MLS changing its rules -- which has happened before. The current DP rule allows teams to sign marquee talent without blowing the leagues modest salary cap. In 2013, only US$368,750 of a senior designated players pay counted against a teams US$2.95-million salary cap. The wave of signings -- the 24-year-old Gilberto arrived last month -- essentially represents a Toronto FC line in the sand after a sad-sack seven-year existence. Since entering MLS in 2007, Toronto has compiled a 51-105-66 league record with players and coaches coming and going through an always-moving revolving door. The team has yet to make the post-season -- something both Vancouver and Montreal have done -- and its once formidable fan support has slipped to the 10th-best attendance in the 19-team league. Enter first manager Ryan Nelsen and president Kevin Payne, then MLSE president and CEO Tim Leiweke. Payne did not last the 2013 season but Leiweke hired GM Tim Bezbatchenko and elected to keep Nelsen. The three amigos then went on a worldwide talent, backed by the deep pockets of the MLSE board. Toronto has not disclosed financial details of the recent acquisitions but Bradleys transfer fee alone exceeds the 2013 salaries listed for Clint Dempsey and Thierry Henry, the leagues highest-paid players. Add in Defoes transfer fee, pegged at between six million and eight million pounds (C$10.8 million to C$14.4 million) and lengthy contracts reportedly worth C$7.1 million a year for Bradley and C$8.3 million for Defoe, and Toronto is entering a whole new financial zip code in MLS. The worlds best soccer players are paid crazy money. Real Madrids Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, reportedly makes 288,000 pounds a week (C$517,845) after taxes. Toronto likely overpaid to get both Defoe and Bradley to come to North America, which has yet to match the top leagues elsewhere in terms of reputation, competition or compensation. In exchange for a huge outlay, Toronto is gettting battle-hardened internationals from two of the finest leagues in the world.dddddddddddd And both arrive at or near their peak. Defoe is a proven goal-scorer who left home at 14 after winning a scholarship to the F.A. National School of Excellence at Lilleshall and signed his first pro deal at 16. Bradley, the son of former U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley, left home at 13 to join the U.S. residency program, before signing with the MLS MetroStars at 16 and moving to Europe at 18 to become an influential midfield general. Gilberto has largely been forgotten in the recent hoopla but the young striker scored 14 goals for a team headed for relegation out of Brazils top league this season. One ranking TFC official predicted Gilberto may score more goals than Defoe. Add in former league MVP Dwayne De Rosario and the off-season acquisitions of Brazilian midfielder Jackson and U.S., international fullback Justin Morrow to a young roster and there is reason to hope. Stil not everyone is convinced coming to Toronto make sense for any other reason than money. "Defoe, to put it bluntly, is joining a club where the limitations are limitless," wrote Daniel Taylor in a blog for Englands Guardian newspaper. "A club with plenty of cash and a showy front but nothing behind it, like a Kinder chocolate egg with no toy inside -- the equivalent in standard, you could say, of a side in the bottom six of the (English second-tier) Championship, if you were putting it generously." Defoe, for his part, says there are several reasons for coming. One was the offer of a new four-year deal when he only had one year left at Spurs. But he also cited his family, which has endured a string of personal tragedies in recent years. Defoe had to fly home from Englands training base in Poland before Euro 2012 when his father died of throat cancer. Later that summer, his cousin Hannah was electrocuted in a freak accident at a pool in St Lucia. His half-brother Jade, a musician, died after a brutal street attack in 2009 and Jades grandmother died after collapsing at the funeral. A 78-year-old cousin was stabbed to death in 2011 at his home in St. Lucia, where Defoes family is from. "On a personal note, the things that weve been through over the last few years in the family and sometimes it is nice to have a change," Defoe told Sky Sports News before flying to Toronto. "I only had a year left on my contract at Tottenham and that was the situation. So I supposed. If youve got a year left and someone comes in and offers you four, then I suppose youve got to think about it and consider your options. So its as simple as that." Leaving Tottenham after nine years wont be easy, he added. "Ive always said Ive had a special relationship with the fans over the years but you know its football, players move on," he said. "I think at the age of 31 its a great opportunity for me and my family." Defoe will return to England and Spurs after Mondays news conference. He will stay with Tottenham through the end of February. Wholesale USA Soccer Jerseys discount uswnt jersey Wholesale AC Milan Jerseys Wholesale Arsenal Jerseys Wholesale A.S. 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