ekansekans's blog: "df"

HOUSTON -- Jeremy Lin doesnt know if hell ever perform as well as he did during his charmed February with the New York Knicks last season. For now hes content to be a key contributor on his new team. James Harden scored 33 points and Chandler Parsons had a career-high 31 to help the Houston Rockets coast to a 131-103 victory over the Knicks on Friday night. Lin added 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists in his first game against his previous team. The Rockets carried a 12-point lead into the third, and scored 10 straight points later in the quarter to extend their lead to 21. Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 37 for New York, which has dropped consecutive games for the first time this season. Lin went undrafted out of Harvard and became a sensation with the Knicks last season with a remarkable stretch in February when he scored at least 20 points in nine of 10 games. A high point of that span came when he had 38 points and seven assists in a 92-85 victory over the Lakers on Feb. 10. The Rockets released Lin before he signed with New York. Lin became a Rocket again when the Knicks decided not to match Houstons three-year, $25 million offer. "Im not looking to recreate what happened in New York," said Lin, who has been in a slump lately. "I want to be a consistent player. I want to get better. I dont know what my potential is. I dont know if I can play any better than I did during that stretch, but Im going to find out to see how close I can get." He said hes "at peace" with the Knicks not matching Houstons offer, and hes glad to be in Houston. Hell get another shot at his former team when the Rockets travel to Madison Square Garden on Dec. 17. "I thought this was one of Jeremys better games," Houston interim coach Kelvin Sampson said. "He attacked and played with swagger tonight, and that was good to see." Though Lin and the Rockets got the best of the Knicks in this one, not everything went right for the guard on Friday night. "I lost part of my tooth on the floor," said Lin, who chipped one of his front teeth while scrambling for the ball near the end of the first half. Parsons scored 26 points in the first half to surpass his previous career high of 25. The second-year player went 8 for 8 to pile up 18 points in the first quarter. He finished 13 of 17 with four 3-pointers. "Chandlers just a winner," Sampson said. "Right now hes just in a groove." Harden, who had nine assists, was a career-best 16 of 16 at the free-throw line to help Houston build its big lead. "They beat us in every way you can beat a team," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "I know throughout the course of the year or the season you have games like this, but its not acceptable. We just werent ready to play and thats on me." Houston (6-7) set a season high for points and it was the most New York (8-3) has given up this season. "Weve got the record that we have because weve been defending and rebounding the ball," Woodson said. "Our defence has held us in and created offence for us, and now were just trying to outscore teams and thats not good enough." Houston was up by 10 before going on a 11-0 run, capped by a 3 from Lin, to stretch the lead to 94-73 with about five minutes left in the third quarter. Anthony got a technical, and Tyson Chandler received a flagrant foul on a play where he and Omer Asik were jostling for a rebound in that span. Asik had Houstons next seven points before Toney Douglas sunk a 3-pointer at the buzzer to leave the Rockets up 104-80 entering the fourth. The Knicks made just two field goals and had four turnovers in the last eight minutes of the third. The Knicks used an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 51-50 about 5 1/2 minutes before halftime. A 16-3 spurt by the Rockets, powered by seven points from Harden, put Houston back on top 67-53 with less than 2 minutes left in the second quarter. Parsons sunk a 3-pointer about a minute later to push Houstons lead to 72-57 at halftime. Marcus Morris was shaken up with about a minute left in the first quarter fighting for a rebound with Anthony. He fell to the court where he remained for a couple of minutes. He was eventually helped to his feet and taken to the locker room. He returned to the bench with about 11 minutes left in the second quarter and returned to the game about 6 minutes before halftime. NOTES: Sampson said before the game that there is no change to the family situation that has kept coach Kevin McHale away from the team since Nov. 10. ... New York F/C Rasheed Wallace missed the game because of a sore left foot. ... Houston has won eight straight over New York in Houston and six overall against the Knicks. Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys From China . Knocking it out of the park was a nice added bonus. De Aza capped a six-run sixth with a grand slam after Paul Konerko and Alex Rios started the inning with back-to-back homers, leading the Chicago White Sox to an 11-8 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night. http://hipstervancouver.com/ . -- The Los Angeles Lakers signed seven-foot Canadian centre Robert Sacre on Friday. NEWARK, N.J. -- The New Jersey Devils top executive took issue Friday with Newark Mayor Cory Bookers recent harsh criticism of him, particularly accusations that the National Hockey League team reneged on a promise to construct a community centre as part of its deal to build the Prudential Center arena five years ago. Booker ripped chairman and managing partner Jeff Vanderbeek on Wednesday in a news conference in front of the arena, a day after arbitrators ruled in favour of the Devils in a long-running dispute with the city over arena parking revenue. Booker indicated that the citys lawyers were considering legal recourse. Among other colourful descriptions, Booker called Vanderbeek a "Grade-A huckster" who came to Newark with "a mouthful of promises and pocketful of lies." One of the unfulfilled promises, Booker said, was that the Devils would build a community centre next to the arena in downtown Newark, the states largest city. Vanderbeek told The Associated Press on Friday that Bookers remarks both surprised and concerned him. "Its concerning that after choosing to take the Prudential Center to court and then have the court ruling that they needed to go to arbitration, and taking it to arbitration, that after that ruling the mayor chooses to not obey the law of the land but seems to be following Booker law," Vanderbeek said. "Our concern is that in a city like Newark where we are trying to set a platform to draw private business in, that businesses are going to think twice when they think about the risk of coming into Newark," he added. A 2007 letter signed by Vanderbeek and Newark Housing Authority head Keith Kinnard said that Devils Renaissance Development, the teams development arm, "shall not be requireed to construct a separate, free-standing community centre; rather, DRD shall only be required to incorporate and conduct community programs in the second sheet of ice that will be constructed as part of the Arena Project.dddddddddddd" Kinnard said Friday that he signed the letter at a time when the arena negotiations were at a critical stage and the city had already sunk about US$100 million into the project. He said the Devils threatened to move to Kansas City if they didnt receive the concessions spelled out in the letter. Booker on Friday echoed Kinnards account and didnt back down from his earlier remarks. Vanderbeek "claimed to be an altruist and that he wanted to help the community, but he went on finding every legal way imaginable to squeeze out of every commitment," Booker said. "This just shows the character of the man, that hes more concerned with squeezing every possible dollar off the table. The rec centre is just one chapter." The Devils havent paid rent to the city since the arena opened in 2007 because of the parking dispute. This weeks arbitration ruling ordered the city to pay $2.7 million per year in parking money to the team. Combined with other payments and fees, the city owes the team about $15 million, or a few hundred thousand dollars more than the Devils owe the city in back rent and other fees. The city contributed $210 million toward building the arena, paid for through a renegotiated lease with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for Newark Liberty International Airport property. The team provided $100 million. The Devils played their first game in the Prudential Center, known as The Rock, in October 2007 after playing at an arena in the nearby Meadowlands since the 1982-83 season. ' ' '