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HOUSTON - With his team under constant assault down the stretch Monday night, Bradley Beal did what needed to be done: He played with confidence. Cheap NFL Jerseys .Beal scored a season-high 33 points, including six free throws in the final two minutes, and Washington survived a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Rockets for a 104-103 victory.I was just being aggressive, taking what the defence gave me, said Beal, who also went 5-for-9 from 3-point range. I was fortunate to have a lot of open shots.Paul Pierce added 21, and John Wall finished with 13 to go with a game-high 12 assists for Washington, which got its third straight victory to open a five-game road trip.Washington improved to 22-8 to match its best start after 30 games in franchise history. The last time they did it was the 1974-75 season.James Harden scored 33 points — including nine in the final 20 seconds, capped by a 3-pointer with under a second to go in regulation — and Corey Brewer added 15 from the bench for the Rockets (21-9), who dropped their third straight.Trevor Ariza, facing his former team for the first time since signing with Houston in the off-season, finished with 15 points and five rebounds.The win was far from perfect for Washington, which led by 18 points in the third quarter before succumbing to sloppy play.Houston outscored the Wizards on second-chance points (18-9) and points in the paint (50-34) but was plagued by poor shooting.Washington had no such issues, shooting nearly 93 per cent from the free-throw line and 44.4 per cent from beyond the arc. Beals steady hand from the free-throw line helped the Wizards avoid a disaster.It was me shooting with confidence and playing with confidence, Beal said.Washington coach Randy Wittman will take it.Listen, its hard to win in this league, Wittman said. What am I taking away from this? Its a good win to start this road trip. There are things we can do better and we learn from them. But in my book there is not a bad win.The Wizards opened the second half on a 9-4 run over the first two minutes and never trailed after that. The Rockets didnt help themselves, committing five turnovers during the span.Beal helped give the Wizards a 46-45 halftime lead with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.The Wizards trailed by seven after Patrick Beverleys layup with 4:46 left in the half, but Beal led a 13-4 surge in the final four minutes with back-to-back 3-pointers.We had a bad end of the second quarter and we had a bad start to the third, Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. We put ourselves in a big hole.Houston had early success against Wall. He entered the game averaging 17.4 points and 11.7 assists on just under 50-per cent shooting in December.It was a big win, Wall said. We almost gave it away with me giving away two turnovers at the end and giving them opportunities to score, but guys stepped up and made big plays for us. ___TIP-INSThe Rockets: Harden was named player of the week for the Western Conference after helping Houston to a 2-1 record. Harden averaged a league-best 34.7 points and 7.3 assists. He deserves it, McHale said. We wouldnt have the record we have if it wasnt for James, no question about that. . G Alexey Shved missed his second consecutive game because of a left ankle sprain.The Wizards: F Martell Webster suited up for the first time this season after Washington activated him earlier Monday. The move came some six months after he underwent back surgery to repair a herniated disk. Webster saw no action.UP NEXTHouston plays host to Charlotte on Wednesday.Washington visits Dallas on Tuesday, the second of a five-game road swing.GOAL MALFUNCTIONThe matchup got off to a bumpy start. Play was stopped 48 seconds into the first quarter because the rim the Rockets were shooting became crooked. It took Toyota Center staff about 30 minutes to replace the goal, and play resumed after an additional five-minute warmup period.The episode was reminiscent of another delay experienced by both teams in January, when a water leak at Verizon Center in D.C. resulted in a rare rain delay lasting more than a half hour. Cheap Jerseys . Louis is going to get a chance to represent his country at the Winter Olympics after all. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . It was almost exactly like the way Babcocks Team Canada won gold at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The result was a 2-1 Red Wings victory on Swedish Olympian Gustav Nyquists rebound goal with 28 seconds left in overtime.PITTSBURGH -- If Pittsburgh Penguins rookie defenceman Olli Maatta was nervous, it certainly didnt show. Maatta sealed the Penguins season-high sixth straight victory when he scored on a third-period penalty shot Thursday night, and Pittsburgh beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2. "I was nervous, for sure, but I think thats the only move that Ive got and it worked," Maatta said. "I thought he got it at first and then I saw it go in so I was pretty excited." Chris Kunitz scored his 19th goal, Pascal Dupuis and Brandon Sutter each scored for the second consecutive game, and defenceman Matt Niskanen also tallied for Pittsburgh, which has won 11 of 12 overall and a season-high nine straight home games. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby added two assists, extending his season-best point streak to nine games. He leads the league with 51 points. Jason Pominville netted his team-high 16th goal and Dany Heatley scored 3:13 into the third period for the Wild, turning a three-goal deficit into a 4-2 game. "We were not ready to play the game hard enough and thats something that we have to look at ourselves in the mirror," said Wild head coach Mike Yeo, a former assistant at Pittsburgh. "To come out and get out-battled and outworked was disappointing." The Wild had an opportunity to make it a one-goal game shortly after with a 5-on-3 power play for 1:46, but the Penguins killed both penalties. Maatta was awarded a penalty shot after he was hauled down by Jonas Brodin on a breakaway while coming out of the penalty box. "Thats the game, depending on what happens there," Crosby said. "If they score on that power play its a different game and theyre one away from tying it." Instead, the 19-year-old Maatta, who made the team out of training camp, scored his third career goal on his first career penalty shot, part of a his first career three-point night. He is the second defenceman in team history to score on a penalty shot. "To step up on a penalty shot like that, and put it in was huge," Crosby said. "Its nice to see him capitalize. Hes been playing well for us all year." Maatta and Niskanen, his defence partner, have also shouldered the load while five of the teams top six defenceman missed a third straight game. The bigger role for the young rookie includes increased minutes -- he played almost a career-best 30 Wednesday night -- and matchups against the oppositions top line. "Thats a tall order, but the confidence and steadiness and consistency in which he played has been maybe the best in the last three or four games," Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma said of Maatta. The Penguins, playing for the fifth time in nine nighhts, were also without star forward Evgeni Malkin for the third straight game. Wholesale Jerseys. Malkin, third in the league in scoring, injured his left leg last Saturday at Detroit. Penguins forward James Neal returned to the lineup following a five-game suspension for kneeing Bostons Brad Marchand in the head during a 3-2 loss to the Bruins. Neal was involved in a fight and had an assist. The Wild are in the midst of a stretch where they play seven of eight on the road. They played their first game without starting goalie Josh Harding, who was placed on injured reserve Wednesday. Its a move that allows Harding time to make adjustments to medication for his multiple sclerosis. Harding, expected to return Dec. 27 at Winnipeg, led the league in goals-against average and ranked second in save percentage entering Thursday. It was a homecoming for Wild forward Matt Cooke, playing his first game in Pittsburgh where he spent five seasons before leaving this past summer by free agency. Cooke, an instrumental piece of the Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup run, has just 20 penalty minutes in 36 games this season, but he was a polarizing figure in Pittsburgh, serving multiple suspensions for several hits. He was recognized in the first period with a scoreboard video tribute. Dupuis opened the scoring 49 seconds into the game, slamming home a rebound from the top of the crease. Niklas Backstrom had trouble handling the initial shot, giving up a rebound -- tipped in the air by Crosby -- that fell into the paint, allowing Dupuis to give the Penguins the early lead. The Penguins struck less than two minutes into the second period as Sutter scored his eighth of the season, a turning shot from the left faceoff dot. Niskanen, who also logged nearly 30 minutes of ice time Wednesday at New York, netted a power-play goal less than two minutes later with a slap shot from the point that got past a screened Backstrom. Kunitz gave the Penguins a 4-0 lead seconds after a fight between Neal and Wild defenceman Keith Ballard, the third fight in two periods. Crosby set up the goal with a no-look backhand pass from the corner to Kunitz, who buried a one-timer past Backstrom. Pominville got the Wild on the board 37 seconds later, re-directing Nino Niederreiters shot behind Jeff Zatkoff, who won his sixth straight game. NOTES: The Penguins are 21-2 when scoring the first goal. .... Penguins forward Jayson Megna will miss the next six weeks with a lower body injury. . Justin Fontaine, former Penguin Mike Rupp and Nate Prosser were healthy scratches for Minnesota, while Brian Gibbons sat out for Pittsburgh. The Penguins host Calgary Saturday, while Minnesota visits the New York Rangers on Sunday. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
