Buchstabensuppe History &'nd about us » van Riemsdyk on the All-Star

HOUSTON -- This is how Dwight Howard plays when hes healthy. Howard had 17 points and a career-high-tying 26 rebounds in his Houston debut, James Harden added 21 points and the Rockets cruised to a 96-83 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. Howard spurned the Lakers to sign an $88 million deal with Houston, joining Harden and a team that made the playoffs last season for the first time since 2009. He said he rushed back too quickly from off-season back surgery last year and never felt quite right in his one disappointing season with Los Angeles. He believes hes returned to form since arriving in Houston and on Wednesday night he showed it. When asked if he could have had a game like this last season, he chuckled. "Physically, I doubt it," he said. "Not the way I did tonight." He said there were times last season that he just couldnt do things he was used to doing. "My mind was at the ball, but my body was still on the other side," he said. "I couldnt do it. Im a lot healthier than I was last season." It was the 63rd 20-plus rebound game of his career, but he was hoping for more. "I really was trying to get 30," he said. "I said coming in tonight that I wanted to get 30 rebounds. I was upset that I didnt do it, but Ill try the next game." The Rockets led by four points in the fourth quarter before using a 14-4 run to extend the lead to 86-72 with about 3 1/2 minutes left. Harden tossed an alley-oop to Howard for a dunk during that span. The crowd roared as Howard pointed and smiled at his new teammate. "He was amazing," Harden said. "Running the floor, rebounding the basketball ... and finishing the basketball. You know, doing what he does. Hes a game changer." Another dunk by Howard, this one a two-handed slam, capped the spurt. Howard didnt want to talk too much about how big this first game was after his off-season talk of joining the Rockets to help them win championships. "I didnt want to put any pressure on myself," he said. "I just wanted to go out there and play and have fun and get back to being who I am as a player. I think when you focus too much on that and what everybody else is saying thats when you dont play like you want to play." Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said dealing with both Harden and Howard was difficult. "They played to their strengths and we werent able to hold them when we needed to," he said. The Bobcats were led by Josh McRoberts, who had 15 points. Houston coach Kevin McHale stayed with the big lineup he first used late in the preseason with 7-footer Omer Asik at centre and Howard at power forward. But he switched things up and started Patrick Beverley over Jeremy Lin at point guard. Beverley injured his ribs in the second quarter and didnt return. Lin received stitches to his chin, but returned to the game. Harden was dealing with a sore wrist and back, but said hed be OK by Houstons next game on Friday. Beverley finished with five points and Lin added 16. Francisco Garcia had five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points. Al Jefferson started after missing most of the preseason with a sprained right ankle. Jefferson, who signed a three-year, $41 million deal in the off-season, had 13 points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes. "I was a little rusty and I most definitely am not in game shape and I missed a lot of shots I would normally make," he said. Houston led by eight points after a putback layup by Howard early in the third quarter. Jefferson got the Bobcats going after that, scoring four points in a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 51-48. A 3-pointer by McRoberts about three minutes later got Charlotte within 57-56. But Lin answered with a 3-pointer that was the first of six straight points for Houston, which pushed the lead to 63-56. Houston led 67-61 at the end of the third quarter. Charlotte is looking to bounce back from a terrible two-year stretch where the team posted an NBA-worst 28-120 record. They added Jefferson and drafted Cody Zeller with the fourth overall pick in an attempt to bolster the lineup. Zeller had two points and four rebounds in about 15 minutes. Howard was given what at first was called a flagrant foul after what looked like a light push at the midsection of McRoberts with about two minutes remaining in the first half. McRoberts got in Howards face after the foul before teammates pulled him away. The play was reviewed and changed to a personal foul, but Howard went to the bench anyway. McRoberts made both free throws and Howard returned in the third quarter. NOTES: The Rockets picked up the third-year option on the contracts of forward Terrence Jones and forward/centre Donatas Motiejunas on Wednesday. ... Former Rockets star Tracy McGrady, who retired from the NBA this summer, watched the game from a courtside seat next to team owner Leslie Alexander and got a loud ovation when he was introduced during a timeout in the second quarter. Fake Yeezy 350 White . Peko, a fourth-round pick in 2006, started all 16 games and a playoff loss to San Diego last season. He was second on the line with 72 tackles and had a career-high three sacks. Yeezy Boost 350 v2 Steeple Grey/Solar Orange . As the schedule flipped from November to December, they would go on to drop five straight, falling six games below the .500 mark before a franchise-altering trade turned them into an unrecognizable team. http://www.yeezys350cheap.com/fake-yeezy...-wholesale.html. -- Augusta James of Bath, Ont. Cheap Yeezy 350 v2 Static .J. - The New York Jets have signed former Green Bay Packers backup quarterback Graham Harrell, giving them some added depth at the position. Cheap Yeezy 350 . Some members of the U.S. Congress arent so sure. They say Russia isnt doing enough to assure that athletes will be protected at the Feb. 7-23 games, happening not far from an Islamic insurgency that Russias huge security apparatus has struggled for two decades to quell. Russia may run greater risks in towns outside the tightly controlled Olympic zone. Suicide bombs last month a few hundred kilometres (miles) away have increased concerns, and an Islamic warlord has urged his followers to attack the Sochi Olympics, Russian President Vladimir Putins pet project.2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992 | 1991 | 1990 1989 | 1988 | 1987 | 1986 | 1985 | 1984 | 1983 | 1982 | 1977-1981 Canada: 5 W - 1 OTW - 0 OTL - 1 L, Gold Medal Team Canada captured their fourth straight gold medal at the IIHF World Hockey Championship following a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over Sweden. Brad Marchand led the way with a goal and an assist and Matt Halischuk played the overtime hero, beating Jhonas Enroth to secure the spoils for the Canadians. With the victory, Canada captured its 14th gold medal while the Swedes - who were in their first final since 1996 - finished the tournament with their seventh silver. It was sweet redemption for Canada, who had their 20-game winning streak in the tournament snapped with a 4-3 loss to the Swedes in their preliminary game. After grabbing an early lead, Canada held on for dear life, largely thanks to the play of goaltender Steve Mason who was named the tournament MVP along with being named top goaltender and earning a spot on the media All-Star team. Mason was not the only Canadian to pick up some post tournament hardware as Drew Doughty was chosen as the top defenceman of the tournament. Doughty and Mason were joined by Swedens Victor Hedman and Patrik Berglund along with Russian forward Viktor Tikhonov and American James van Riemsdyk on the All-Star team. It was another disappointing tournament for the Americans who were beat 4-2 by Russia for the Bronze medal after going unbeaten in round robin play. Russia was able to avenge a 3-2 loss to team USA in the preliminary round to capture their fourth straight medal. Group A COUNTRY GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS Sweden 4 4 0 0 0 22 9 12 Canada 4 3 0 0 1 12 5 9 Czech Rep. 4 2 0 0 2 12 11 6 Slovakia 4 1 0 0 3 9 14 3 Denmark 4 0 0 0 4 7 23 0 Group B COUNTRY GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS United States 4 4 0 0 0 17 8 12 Russia 4 3 0 0 1 18 14 9 Finland 4 1 1 0 2 16 15 5 Kazakhstan 4 1 0 0 3 8 16 3 Switzerland 4 0 0 1 3 9 15 1 MEDAL GAMES Gold - Canada 3, Sweden 2 (OT) Bronze - Russia 4, United States 2 Team Canada Roster (GP - G - A - Pts) Kyle Turris (7 - 4 - 4 - 8) Brad Marchand (7 - 4 - 2 - 6) Claude Giroux (7 - 2 - 4 - 6) Steven Stamkos (7 - 1 - 5 - 6) John Tavares (7 - 5 - 1 - 6) Matt Halischuk (7 - 2 - 3 - 5) Josh Godfrey (7 - 0 - 5 - 5) Shawn Matthias (7 - 3 - 1 - 4) Drew Doughty (7 - 0 - 4 - 4) Karl Alzner (7 - 1 - 1 - 2) Stefan Legein (7 - 1 - 1 - 2) Colton Gillies (7 - 1 - 0 - 1) Logan Pyett (7 - 0 - 1 - 1) Thomas Hickey (7 - 0 - 1 - 1) Brandon Sutter (7 - 0 - 1 - 1) Zach Boychuk (7 - 0 - 0 - 0) Riley Holzapfel (7 - 0 - 0 - 0) PK Subban (7 - 0 - 0 - 0) Wayne Simmonds (7 - 0 - 0 - 0) Luke Schenn (7 - 0 - 0 - 0) Team Canada Goaltending (W-L -OT - GAA - SO) Steve Mason (5-0-0 - 1.dddddddddddd.19 - 1) Jonathan Bernier (1-1-0 - 2.00 - 1) Tournament All-Stars G - Steve Mason (CAN) F - Viktor Tikhonov (RUS) D - Drew Doughty (CAN) F - James van Riemsdyk (USA) D - Victor Hedman (SWE) F - Patrik Berglund (SWE) Top Scorers PLAYER GP G A P James van Riemsdyk (USA) 6 5 6 11 Nikita Filatov (RUS) 7 4 5 9 Marek Slovak (SVK) 6 2 7 9 Kyle Turris (CAN) 7 4 4 8 Arnaud Jacquemet (SUI) 6 2 6 8 ' ' '