HOUSTON -- Houston is starting to make a habit of 40-point first quarters. After not scoring 40 points in the opening quarter in the last five seasons, the Rockets have done it five times this season and twice in the last three games. Terrence Jones had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the Rockets opened a big early lead and beat the Detroit Pistons 118-110 on Saturday night for their third win in four games. Jones finished 10 of 15 from the floor as Houston shot 50 per cent for the game, including 61 per cent in the first half. Houston scored 41 points in the first quarter and finished 11 of 33 from behind the arc. "We got a big halftime lead and didnt play well in the second half," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "We came out and really moved the ball. We had it going up and down and just did a nice job of doing what weve been talking about doing, which is attacking early, getting inside to Dwight (Howard) and making some nice passes." James Harden added 20 points and 12 assists, Patrick Beverley had 19 points and Howard chipped in 17 points and eight rebounds. Reserve Omri Casspi scored 16 points and Jordan Hamilton had 13. While saying it was an important win before the Rockets begin a stretch against some of the top teams in the NBA on Tuesday against Miami, Howard did not like the way Houston came out in the second half. "I thought we should have really put the foot on the gas," Howard said. "We didnt. We allowed them to get back into the game, and that is not what we need to do if we want to be a championship team." Rodney Stuckey had 23 points on 10 of 17 shooting off the bench, and Josh Smith added 21 points for the Pistons, who dropped their fourth straight and seventh in eight games. Andre Drummond had 16 points and 17 rebounds, Greg Monroe had 10 points and 14 rebounds, and Brandon Jennings chipped in 11 points and eight assists for Detroit, which shot 45 per cent from the field. "In the first half, we didnt play with the energy, enthusiasm or desire you have to play at to play against any NBA team, let alone a high-level team like Houston," Detroit interim coach John Loyer said. "We came in here, and I told our guys we played harder in practice than the first 24 minutes. We had more juice, energy running a three-man weave than we did in the first half. There are two halves to a game, and fortunately, we played a much better second half." Detroit fell four games out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Drummond said the Pistons have enough time to make the playoffs. "We have enough time to do anything, and were four games out, so it comes to what we do as a team," Drummond said. "It cant be one or two people. We have to be as a collective group to want to buckle down and try to win games." Trailing 102-84 with 10:33 remaining, Detroit outscored the Rockets 13-5 over the next 4:22 to cut the lead to 10 on Smiths free throws, but Beverley nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back to 16 with four minutes remaining. The Pistons closed within seven once more with a 10-1 run, capped by consecutive layups by Stuckey, but got no closer. "I think guys stopped playing a little bit because of the lead," Jones said. "We just tried to make sure that we got back to it on the defensive end to make sure we got the win. I think we did that late in the fourth." The Rockets, who never trailed, moved to 40-19. Only the 1993-94 team that started 40-15 got to 40 wins faster. Houston used a 16-2 run over a three-minute stretch of the first quarter to open a 23-6 lead on Howards two free throws 5 minutes into the game. "We did a good job of coming out with some aggression and getting some defensive stops and getting out in transition," Harden said. Houston expanded its lead to 58-33 on Howards free throw with 4:58 remaining in the first half. The Rockets led 69-46 at the break. NOTES: Houston forward Chandler Parsons missed the game with an illness. . Rockets centre Greg Smith underwent an exploratory arthroscopic knee surgery Wednesday to repair a medial meniscus tear and to examine changes to ligament structures in his right knee. Smith, who has missed 36 games this season, is out indefinitely. . Drummond leads the Eastern Conference with 43 double-doubles this season Prince Amukamara Jaguars Jersey . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. Josh Evans Jaguars Jersey . - Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings was speaking to a group of local high school students earlier this week when the conversation turned to the importance of being prepared when opportunities in life arise. http://www.footballjaguarsprostore.com/winston-guy-jaguars-jersey/ . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Allen Hurns Jaguars Jersey . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. Aaron Colvin Jaguars Jersey . Clarkson had been dealing with an elbow injury in early January and will be out of action for at least one week. He has three goals and five assists through 36 games with the Leafs this season.On Thursday night Jason Jarvis was the star and now the Goldeyes are only a game-and-a-half out of the lead in the American Associations wild card hunt. For the third straight night at Midway Stadium in St. Paul, the Winnipeg Goldeyes shut out the St. Paul Saints. This time, in the final game of a four-game series, Jarvis gave up only five hits as the Goldeyes beat the Saints 3-0 to win their third straight game in St. Paul and win the four-game series 3-1. After losing 14-1 in the series opener, the Goldeyes pitchers went lights out on St. Paul. Chris Salamida, Matt Rusch and Jarvis pitched 27 consecutive innings of shutout baseball. Its the first time the Goldeyes have ever gone back-to-back-to-back with complete game shutouts, or even three consecutive shutouts for that matter. “Our pitchers came out and threw strikes in the last two games and Jarvis just kept it going,” said Goldeyes pitching coach Jamie Vermilyea. “He pitched his butt off tonight. “No matter what level youre playing at, you dont see three complete game shutouts in a row. Thats something that just doesnt happen. Ill wager thats the first time its happened in league history. Its been amazing to watch.” With the victory, the Goldeyes improved to 49-41 on the season and pulled to within a game-and-a-half of the 50-39 Gary SouthShore RailCats. Gary lost 5-4 to Wichita Thursday afternoon. The Goldeyes opened the scoring in the second inning, as Ray Sadler walked, went to second on a single by Josh Mazzola and scored on a single by Luis Alen. Winnipeg made it 3-0 in the fourth on solo homers by Mazzola and Alen and that was it. Jarvis annd St.dddddddddddd Pauls Anthony Claggett were almost perfect for the rest of the game as both starters pitched complete games. “You cant pitch better than Jason has in his first two starts for us,” said Vermilyea, referring to the fact that Jarvis was acquired by the Goldeyes from Sioux City 10 days ago. “He works off that fastball and when he gets ahead he threw the slider and sinker ball and kept it in the bottom half of the zone. And you dont throw a shutout without a defense making plays behind him and our defense was great tonight.” Mazzola and Alen had outstanding games for the Goldeyes. Mazzola, went four-for-four, hit his 14th homer of the season, scored a run, drove in a run and raised his batting average to .294. Alen went two-for-four with a solo homer and an RBI single. The Goldeyes had only eight hits on the night, but they made only one error in the entire four-game series. Jarvis (6-10, 3.85 ERA) picked up the win, his first as a member of the Goldeyes. Claggett (8-5, 3.26 ERA) suffered the loss for St. Paul. Right after the game, the Goldeyes jumped on the bus and headed for Sioux Falls, S.D. where theyll open a three-game weekend series against the Sioux Falls Canaries on Friday night. The game can be heard live on TSN 1290, beginning with the pre-game show at 6:30 p.m. Winnipeg will head home on Monday and open a four-game series against St. Paul on Tuesday night at Shaw Park. Tickets for all Goldeyes games are available through Ticketmaster by calling 1-855-GOLDEYE, clicking on Ticketmaster.ca or visiting any Ticketmaster location, including the Shaw Park box office. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '