HOUSTON -- The Rockets offence is one of the best in the NBA. [url=http://www.airmaxnz.com/]Air Max Nz Sale[/url] . However, aga

HOUSTON -- The Rockets offence is one of the best in the NBA. Air Max Nz Sale . However, against Golden State on Friday night, it was the defence that was the key. Houston leaned on its defence in the first quarter while jumping out to a double-digit lead it didnt relinquish. James Harden scored 34 points, Dwight Howard had 22 points and 18 rebounds, and the Rockets beat the Warriors 105-83. Terrence Jones added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who had lost two straight. Harden shot 13 for 22 from the field and 7 for 9 on free throws two nights after shooting 3 for 17 -- including 0 for 10 on 3-pointers -- against Phoenix. Howard was 12 for 20 on free throws as the Rockets finished 25 for 39 from the line. Houston was also 45 per cent from the field. "Thats the way we play," Harden said. "If we dont get after them on the defensive end, its going to be tough for us. We were getting huge stops and getting out in transition. We did a good job early in the game of putting pressure on their guards, and we got things going our way." Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 22 points and five assists, but was just 5 of 14 from the field while making all 11 free-throw attempts. Harrison Barnes had 14 points and seven rebounds, Kent Bazemore added 12 and David Lee 11 points as the Warriors saw their two-game win streak end. Golden State shot 36 per cent from the field, including 2 for 16 on 3s. "Theyre a tough team," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "They shoot a lot of 3s. They shoot them at a really high percentage. We were trying to get them off the line and keep pressure on them and keep our bids up so they just couldnt walk into shots. For the most part, we did a very good job of that." Golden State coach Mark Jackson said it was a bad loss. "The way we started the ball game, there have been times when our bench has been bad, and we let them know, and tonight, the starters did a poor job of setting the tone," Jackson said. "We got outworked. They played with more force and that set the tone the rest of the way." The Rockets led 61-37 at halftime and pushed the advantage to 28 on Hardens three-point play less than 2 minutes into the third quarter. Golden State pulled to 74-50 on Jermaine ONeals jumper midway through the third, and the Warriors resorted to Hack-a-Howard with 5:40 remaining in the period. Howard made 2 of 4 from the line, and the Warriors pulled to 76-54 on ONeals layup with 5:06 to go in the quarter. Howard connected on the next two free throws, and the Warriors went away from hacking him. Golden State got no closer than 15 points the rest of the way. "Its like tonight we didnt hit shots early, and we have a tendency to dwell on that, and we werent getting stops and we cant turn the ball over on offence," Curry said. "We gave them extra possessions early in the game to get their confidence going." Houston opened up a 31-12 lead after the first quarter on 60-per cent shooting from the field. The Rockets hit nine of their first 11 field goals as Jones led the way with 11 points in the quarter and Howard had nine. "We did the best job we could on making sure those guys didnt get 3s off tonight, and thats where it started," Howard said. "Our defence was great from the beginning. We had a lot of deflections. We ran the floor well and put pressure on their guards to make plays to other guys instead of them coming off and scoring." Golden State opened the second with five straight points to pull within 14 on Currys 3, but the Rockets responded with a 16-6 spurt over a 5-minute stretch to open up a 55-30 lead on Patrick Beverleys layup with 1:30 to go in the half. Harden had eight points in the run. The Warriors shot 27 per cent from the field and hit 1 of 8 from beyond the arc in the first half after scoring 19 points in the first quarter three nights earlier against Toronto and trailing by 17 at the half. "I know there is a reason for it thats excusable," Klay Thompson said of the slow starts. "Its very disappointing. As a starter, we have to come out there with unlimited energy." NOTES: Houston forward Chandler Parsons returned after missing the last two games with back spasms. Parsons finished with eight points and five assists on 3-of-13 shooting in 34 minutes. ... The Warriors 12 first quarter points tied a season low for a quarter and was the Warriors fewest points in a first quarter. ... The 12 first-quarter points was also a season-low for points in a quarter allowed by the Rockets. Discount Air Max Nz . "Theyve been good against everybody," he said. Carlos Gomez launched a three-run homer and Matt Garza battled into the seventh inning for his first win in four starts to help the Brewers continue their mastery of the Rockies with a 7-4 victory Saturday. Cheap Air Max Nz Free Shipping . -- The Toronto Maple Leafs are tightening the race for second place in the Atlantic Division. http://www.airmaxnz.com/ . -- Packers cornerback Tramon Williams has been fined $26,250 for contact with an official, per NFL guidelines.LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Charlie Strong remains Louisvilles football coach for the moment, telling assistants Saturday morning he hasnt decided to accept Texas offer to become its coach. Cardinals football spokesman Rocco Gasparro said Saturday that Strong told his staff that "no decision had been made" on whether to leave the school after four years. The coach has not met with athletic director Tom Jurich and university President James Ramsey as expected because the ADs return from his Colorado vacation was delayed by weather. A person familiar with Texas search told The Associated Press on Friday night that Strong was expected to accept the schools offer to replace Mack Brown, who stepped down last month. Contract details were not immediately available, but Brown was paid more than $5 million per season. Gasparro said there was no timetable on a decision by Strong, who is 37-15 with the Cardinals, including 3-1 in bowl games. "Its a difficult decision for him," Gasparro said. Strong, 53, met this week with new Texas athletic director Steve Patterson about the coaching vacancy, for which several prominent names hhave been mentioned as candidates. Wholesale Air Max Nz. Among them were Florida States Jimbo Fisher -- who agreed to a contract extension this week while preparing the top-ranked Seminoles for Mondays BCS national championship showdown with No. 2 Auburn -- UCLAs Jim Mora and Baylors Art Briles, both of whom said publicly they were staying in their current jobs. Strong turned down Tennessees offer to become its coach in December 2012. He had two stints as an assistant at Florida, first under Steve Spurrier and then as defensive co-ordinator for Urban Meyers two national championship teams. In 2010, Louisville hired him to take over the program and he quickly righted the Cardinals, who are moving into the Atlantic Coast Conference next season. Strong would be Texas first black head football coach, and he inherits a program aching to return to its place among the nations elite programs. Browns Longhorns won the national championship after the 2005 season and returned to the national championship game after the 2009 season. But the Longhorns fell to 5-7 in 2010 and have lost at least four games each of the last three seasons. ' ' '