CHARLOTTE, N. wholesale nfl jerseys .C. - The Houston Rockets hadnt been very good lately with Dwight Howard on the court, and downright lethal with him on the sidelines. But that all changed Monday night. James Harden stayed hot, Howard provided a boost on defence and the Rockets won their fourth straight game 100-89 to cool off the surging Charlotte Bobcats. Harden scored 31 points and Howard battled through foul trouble and a head cold he picked up over the weekend to chip in with 10 points and 10 rebounds, handing the Bobcats only their second loss in the last 11 games at home. Houston had lost three straight before Howard decided to sit out and rest a nagging ankle injury. The Rockets quickly started rolling without him, winning the next three games by an average of 23 points. "Dwight is a great talent and you figure a way to get him in," Harden said. "He didnt score the ball well tonight, but he had 10 rebounds and did so many other things, He held Al Jefferson to a fewer amount of points. It doesnt always show up in the stat sheet, but we know how important he is to our team." Jefferson still finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds for Charlotte, but many of those came when Howard was sitting out after picking up a pair of offensive fouls — his third and fourth of the game — in the third quarter. "I was trying to play through (being sick) and the conditioning, but the important part is we got the win," Howard said. Terrence Jones added 18 points and seven rebounds in the victory and Chandler Parsons and Patrick Beverly had backbreaking 3-pointers on consecutive possessions in the final two minutes to seal the victory. The Rockets (48-22) entered 1 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers in the race for third place in the Western Conference and riding a wave of confidence having shot 54.7 per cent during the recent three-game win streak. The turning point came late in the third quarter with the Bobcats leading 66-65. Harden took over, helping Houston close the quarter with a 13-2 run to build a double-digit lead. Harden scored 10 points during that crucial stretch, including a breakaway left-handed dunk and a fall away 3-pointer. He was fouled another 3-point attempt and sank all three shots. The Bobcats got to within five on a jumper by Jefferson in the lane, but Parsons and Beverly each hit 3s to push the lead to 98-87 with one minute left in the game. "Chandler made a really big transition 3 and Pat made a big 3 in the corner that kind of sealed the game," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. Kemba Walker had 22 points to lead Charlotte. The Bobcats (34-37) came in having won seven of their last 10 — including a 30-point victory over Portland on Saturday night — and looking to gain ground on Washington in the race for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. But they shot just 37 per cent from the field. "The ball movement just wasnt the same tonight. We didnt have a James Harden," Jefferson said. Few teams do. At times, Harden was hitting step-back jump shots that not even the leagues best defenders could stop. Jefferson called Harden the best 1-on-1 player in the game. "He didnt do anything that surprised me tonight," Jefferson said. "Hes an amazing player." It was Hardens 18th 30-point game this season. "He just took over," McHale said. "Hes been fantastic and playing the right way. He had 31 (points) on 19 shots. And hes making the right play. Hes making great passes and he led us in assists" with five. NOTES: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver attended the game. Silver said he would like to see Charlotte host the NBA All-Star game in the near future. "The process is for them to apply. Weve had our events department down here to survey the building and there are some upgrades to the building that are needed. Part of the understanding is to assure the building remains state-of-the-art... but Id love to bring the All-Star game back here. Its a hotbed of basketball and the only thing they have to do is apply." ... Team owner Michael Jordan took in the game from the end of the Bobcats bench. ... Houston has won seven straight against Charlotte. ... Bobcats coach Steve Clifford picked up his seventh technical of the season. nfl jerseys china . -- Alex Anthopoulos spoke volumes with what he didnt say on right-hander Ervin Santana. cheap nfl jerseys . Samuel Etoo scored for his fourth different team in Europes top club competition on a night of standout individual performances. However, it was a night to forget for Schalke goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand, whose failed clearance led to Etoos opening goal in Chelseas 3-0 win, which put Jose Mourinhos side atop Group E.LONDON -- Doused in champagne by Arsenals victorious players, Arsene Wenger was soaked in success once again. The nine-year wait for a trophy finally ended Saturday and the manager, who had felt the pressure and faced derision over the drought, could finally celebrate on the Wembley Stadium pitch. Arsenal won its fifth FA Cup trophy in Wengers 18-year reign after Aaron Ramsey struck in extra time to clinch a 3-2 comeback victory over Hull. "Its a big, big moment of happiness," Wenger said. "We waited a long time for that. But the happiness is linked sometimes with the time you have to wait for it. Thats why it was a great moment at the end of the game." Especially after Arsenal looked headed for disaster early on when its defence imploded to concede two goals in the opening eight minutes. James Chester and Curtis Davies scored for a Hull side that has never won a major trophy in its 110-year history. Santi Cazorla began Arsenals fightback in the 17th minute by scoring directly from a free kick, but Laurent Koscielny took until the 71st to equalize and force the game into extra time, when Ramsey completed a slick move to score. "This ones for the manager, for the fans, whove always believed in us as well even when things werent going as well," Ramsey said. It was Arsenals 11th FA Cup win overall, tying Manchester Uniteds record. This is a team that has played in the Champions League for 16 successive years by finishing in the Premier Leagues top four but has failed to match its talent with silverware since lifting the 2005 FA Cup. "I think it was a turning point in the lifetime of this team," Wenger said. "And to know they can win in that way was very important today." But three years after a conceding a late goal here to Birmingham in the League Cup final, this looked like being another miserable day for the Gunnerse. Arsenals defence was nonexistent, breached far too easily inside three minutes by a team that only just avoided relegation in its first season back in the Premier League. Tom Huddlestone met Stephen Quinns free kick on the edge of the penalty area with a volley that was heading off-target until Chester flicked the ball with his heel into the bottom corner of the net. Before Arsenals players ccould recover, Lukasz Fabianski was picking the ball out of his net again. jerseys from china. A header from Alex Bruce, whose father Steve manages the team, hit the post and Davies fired in the loose ball from a tight angle. Arsenals fragile zonal marking system nearly gifted Hull a third in the 13th, with only Kieran Gibbs nodded goal-line clearance preventing Bruces header going in. But Cazorla gave Arsenal a much-needed spark with a piece of individual skill as the Spaniard curled in a free kick from distance into the top of the net. The search for the equalizer, though, proved frustrating with Giroud ineffective up front. But as Hull tired after the break, Arsenal seized control of the game during the second half. They were rightly aggrieved not to be awarded a penalty by referee Lee Probert when Cazorla was brought down by Davies in the area. But after Probert incorrectly gave a corner rather than a Hull goal kick, Arsenal levelled from Cazorlas set piece. Sagnas header came off Chester and dropped for Koscielny to turn the ball into the net in the 71st. Dominating an ineffective, quickly fading Hull side, the cup could have been won in the 79th but for Arsenals wayward finishing. Striker Yaya Sanogo, who had replaced Lukas Podolski, withheld challenges on the right flank before squaring to Kieran Gibbs. The left back was unmarked and had time to control the ball but managed to lift it over the crossbar from six yards out. Giroud found the target in the 82nd with a powerful strike only to be thwarted by goalkeeper Allan McGregors fine save. In extra time, it was the crossbar denying Arsenal inside five minutes after Giroud met Aaron Ramseys cross with a header. But a flowing move in the 109th ended with Girouds backheel reaching Ramsey, who slotted the winner low into the net. The title drought is over and Arsenal has a trophy to take back to the Emirates Stadium for the first time since moving there from Highbury in 2006. "We showed great strength and character today to come back to win it," the 23-year-old Ramsey said. "To score the winner in extra time is something Ive dreamed of for many, many years. Its definitely up there with the most important goals Ive ever scored." ------ Frank Griffiths contributed to this report. ' ' '
