01-21-2020, 03:56 AM
OAKLAND, Calif. -- In one corner of the Golden State Warriors locker room, Stephen Curry iced a welt on the left side of his forehead. On the other, Jermaine ONeal limped out of the training room with bandages around his waist and wrist. The Warriors emerged from 53 minutes of basketball battered and bruised by the NBAs hottest team but delivered their own kind of knockout blows. Curry converted a tying layup with 3.2 seconds left in regulation and finished with 25 points, ONeal made a big-time block in overtime and the Warriors outlasted the Rockets 102-99 Thursday night to halt Houstons eight-game winning streak. "Thats one of our biggest wins of the year," said ONeal, who grabbed 10 rebounds and defended Dwight Howard as well as anybody has this season. Just after James Harden hit a go-ahead jumper, Curry came back with a left-handed layup over Howard to send the game to the extra session. The Warriors got a big boost in overtime when ONeal, who had surgery on his right wrist earlier this season and was filling in for injured centre Andrew Bogut, blocked Chandler Parsons baseline dunk attempt at the rim. Curry followed with two free throws to give Golden State a 98-95 lead with 15.9 seconds left. The teams traded free throws as the Rockets ran out of time. "There were so many big plays that we made both offensively and defensively," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. "We were patient, we executed and it was just a big-time win for us." Harden scored 34 of his 39 points in the second half to rally the Rockets, but said he hyperextended his right elbow in a collision during the closing minutes. Harden had an X-ray but the results had not come back. Hes scheduled to have an MRI in Phoenix, where Houston plays its next game Sunday. "When it first happened, I thought it was over. I thought I broke it or whatever," said Harden, who stayed in the game. "Its still painful. Its throbbing but hopefully its nothing too serious." The Warriors outshot Houston 39.8 per cent to 36.6 per cent and made just enough plays late. David Lee had 28 points and 14 rebounds, and Klay Thompson and Jordan Crawford scored 12 points each in Golden States all-round defensive effort. Howard grabbed 21 rebounds, but scored just 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting, and Parsons added 21 points and eight rebounds as Houston lost for the first time since Jan. 25 at Memphis. It was the Rockets longest winning streak since a franchise-record, 22-game run in 2007-08 season. "It just wasnt a crisp game for us," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. Playing on consecutive nights made for two tired teams until both picked up the intensity late in the fourth quarter. Harden stripped Lee as he turned to shoot out of the post, then hit a go-ahead shot from 23 feet over Thompson that put Houston ahead 89-87 with 6.9 seconds to play in regulation. After the Warriors called timeout to advance the ball to half court, Curry received a pass from Andre Iguodala while running off a screen and drove to his left and to the hoop. With Howard approaching, Curry floated a left-handed layup over the Rockets centre for the tying score before Harden missed a 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer. Curry said the play was designed for him to shoot a 3-pointer but defenders overplayed him. "At that point, it was just about getting into the lane as quick as possible and try to get it on the rim," said Curry, who was inadvertently bruised by Howards leg as the two dove for a loose ball earlier. "Dwight was there to protect and thankfully I was able to get a little bit of touch on it and it went in." The Warriors took control for good when Parsons sprinted down the baseline, received a pass from Harden and went up for a one-handed dunk only to be emphatically denied by the veteran ONeal, bringing the announced sellout crowd of 19,596 roaring to their feet. "He made a great play going baseline, and when youre big, you kind of look at it like being a free safety," ONeal said. "I wanted to make sure I got to the rim in time to save the dunk." "It was just perfect timing on his part," Parsons said. The Rockets were forced to foul Curry with time running out. He made both free throws, then the Warriors intentionally fouled Harden so he couldnt attempt a tying 3-pointer. Harden and Curry swapped free throws before the Warriors stole the ball to finish off a thrilling game between teams that could see each other in the Western Conference playoffs. NOTES: Steve Blake, acquired by the Warriors in a trade with the Lakers on Wednesday, finished with three points, two rebounds and one assist in 19 minutes. ... Houston won the season series 2-1 over the Warriors. ... McHale was whistled for a technical foul for arguing a charging call against Jeremy Lin at the end of the first quarter. The foul on Lin was waved off after officials ruled time had expired following a video review. The technical stood. Air Force 1 Italia . Rooneys latest piece of football genius lost in the furore which now stalks David Moyes, and the man who gave the Manchester United striker his start as a 16-year old at Goodison Park back in 2002. Air Force 1 Low Italia . Jacobs scored two in the first end, but Jahr briefly took charge with two in the second end and two more in the third. Jacobs, from Sault. Marie, Ont., gave Canada some breathing room, following his big fourth end by adding two more points in the fifth to go up 7-4. http://www.airforce1outletitalia.it/scon...thang.html .J. - Pete Carroll is in support of the NFL looking further into whether medicinal marijuana could beneficial for players. Air Force 1 n7 . You can, too, Clay Buchholz, if we ignore the sixth inning of Game 2. Doug Fister and Jake Peavy, youre up next in Game 4 and theres a lot to live up to. Air Force 1 Scontate . Klein went undrafted in the NFL last year following his senior season with the Wildcats. He was invited to the Houston Texans rookie camp, but was not offered a contract.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Titans were implementing a new offensive system under Ken Whisenhunt, a new defensive system under co-ordinator Ray Horton, and trying to make a whole bunch of new pieces fit. Things couldnt have gone much better in their regular-season debut. Jake Locker threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns, the Titans new-look defence picked off Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith three times, and Tennessee rolled to a 26-10 victory over the Chiefs on Sunday. "I dont want to sound arrogant," Locker said, "but I think we expected it to (go smoothly). We felt that way through minicamp, into fall camp and in the preseason. That was one of our expectations, that we were able to execute and we were going to be efficient on offence." Locker picked apart a Kansas City defence that lost Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Johnson and starting defensive tackle Mike DeVito to Achilles injuries. He finished 22 of 33 while connecting with eight different players, including former Chiefs wide receiver Dexter McCluster. "Jake did great," Whisenhunt said. "All those things weve worked with, footwork-wise and technique-wise, and you saw it. Thats really exciting. But its just one game." Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker had TD catches for the Titans, and Ryan Succop was perfect on four field-goal attempts against the team that released him last weekend. "Theres no question this was a special day," Succop said. "It was an awesome day. Great to come back to Kansas City. Im very thankful the day went the way that it did." Smith, who signed a four-year, $68 million extension last weekend, was just 19 of 35 for 202 yards in a haphazard performance by a Kansas City offence weakened by suspensions. Leading wide receiver Dwayne Bowe was forced to miss the game following an arrest last November, and right tackle Donald Stephenson served the first game of his four-game suspension for violating the leagues policy on performance-enhancing substances. The Chiefs didnt reach the end zone until Anthony Fasanos TD catch in the fourth quarter. Running back Jamaal Charles, who is the Chiefs biggest game-breaker, was a non-factor. He carried seven times for 19 yards and had four catcches for 15 yards.dddddddddddd "All those things we did last year to win, we didnt do them today," Smith said. "We didnt execute, didnt execute in a lot of phases, especially offence." After Kansas City jumped out to a 3-0 lead, when Cairo Santos banged a 35-yard attempt off the right upright and through for the first field goal of his career, just about nothing went right. Santos missed a 47-yarder moments later and the Titans seized control. Locker led his team 62 yards for a go-ahead touchdown, an easy toss to Walker in the back of the end zone. Succop followed with a field goal later in the half for a 10-0 lead. Johnson went down with his Achilles injury just before the half, and DeVito was lost to a nearly identical injury on the first drive of the second half. Locker capped that drive with a short TD pass to Wright, who managed to contort his body just enough to touch the pylon as he was going out of bounds. The touchdown gave Tennessee a 17-3 lead and started a shower of boos from a crowd that had been full of optimism. "Those are guys who are kind of staples of their defence," Locker said. "They were in there almost every snap, especially Derrick. You understand thats going to change up their personnel a little bit. Yeah, you look at it and maybe understand where you can gain an advantage." It was an important opener for the injury-prone Locker. The Titans declined their fifth-year option on him in in the off-season, so the pressure is on Locker to perform this season. He certainly did against a Chiefs defence that was full of questions entering the season, and has even more after a pair of serious injuries to key defensive players. "I have a lot of respect for Coach Reid and this football team and these fans," Whisenhunt said. "We didnt do great all the time, but we did enough. Im very happy for that." Notes: Titans LB Zach Brown left with a shoulder injury. ... Jason McCourty had two interceptions for Tennessee. "Those were big for us," he said. "That last one sealed the game." ... McCluster ran for 29 yards and had one catch for 17 yards. ... Chiefs S Eric Berry had a career-high 14 tackles. ... Chiefs RT Jeff Allen left with a strained biceps. ' ' '