Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork. Portland Trail Blazers Store .com) - James Harden needed just seven made field goals to drop 35 points on the Philadelphia 76ers, leading the Houston Rockets to a 104-93 win on Monday. Harden hit 17-of-18 from the free throw line and added nine rebounds and five assists for Houston, which improved to 4-0 on the season. Trevor Ariza gave 24 points and Dwight Howard scored 11 with 14 rebounds and four blocks. Tony Wroten paced the winless Sixers with 20 points in the setback, while rookie big man Nerlens Noel contributed a team-high five assists and six steals. Final Score: Brooklyn 116, Oklahoma City 85 Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Deron Williams had 17 points and nine assists as the Brooklyn Nets routed the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-85 on Monday night. Brook Lopez posted 18 points and six rebounds in his first game of the year after missing the first two with a foot injury. Alan Anderson netted 18 points off the bench for the Nets, who have won two straight since a season-opening loss at Boston. Reggie Jackson, who didnt play in his first three games due to a wrist injury, tallied 23 points and five assists, but turned the ball over seven times for Oklahoma City, which is off to a 1-3 start. Perry Jones finished with 16 points. Final Score: Memphis 93, New Orleans 81 Memphis, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Marc Gasol led all five Grizzlies starters in double figures with 16 points and 11 rebounds as Memphis stayed unbeaten with a 93-81 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday. Gasol and Zach Randolph both provided double-doubles, with the latter contributing 15 points and 11 boards, but the duos interior defense was the bigger story in this one. Gasol and Randolph limited Anthony Davis to 14 points and eight boards, pedestrian totals from the lofty standards he set early this season. Davis was averaging 28.5 points and 16.0 rebounds through two games coming in. Tyreke Evans scored 21 points for the Pelicans, losers in two straight following an opening night win. The Grizzlies are 4-0 for the first time in franchise history. Final Score: Dallas 118, Boston 113 Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Chandler Parsons scored 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting and the Dallas Mavericks fended off the Boston Celtics, 118-113, on Monday. Dirk Nowitzki netted 27 points with seven rebounds while Monta Ellis added 14 points for the Mavs, who raced out to a big lead but sweated out their third straight victory. Jeff Green and Avery Bradley fueled the Celtics comeback, totaling 35 and 32 points, respectively. Bradley had a chance to tie things at the free throw line with 39.5 seconds to go but only made two of his three attempts. Final Score: Sacramento 110, Denver 105 Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Darren Collison scored 21 points with six assists to help the Sacramento Kings to a 110-105 win over the Denver Nuggets in the opener of a home-and-home set. DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and five rebounds while Rudy Gay and Carl Landry each gave 14 points for the Kings, who have won three straight after opening the season with a loss to Golden State. JaVale McGee and Arron Afflalo each had 11 points for the Nuggets, who have dropped their past two. Final Score: LA Clippers 107, Utah 101 Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Blake Griffin scored a game-high 31 points and Chris Paul recorded a triple-double in the Los Angeles Clippers 107-101 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday. Paul, just two days after suffering a left foot sprain, logged 13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for a Clippers squad looking to rebound from Sundays home loss to the Kings. Los Angeles struggled down the stretch against Sacramento but got some much- needed production from Jamal Crawford to finish off the Jazz. Crawford played through a rib injury and scored nine of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. Gordon Hayward paced the Jazz with 27 points, but they fell to 1-3 on the young season and dropped their 10th straight game against the Clippers. Enes Kanter donated 17 points and nine boards in a losing cause. Sidney Wicks Jersey . Chris Johnson singled with two outs off left-hander Jerry Blevins (1-1), and Schafer pinch ran. With a 2-2 count, Schafer ran on the pitch and Upton dropped a single in front of Bryce Harper. Schafer already was rounding third when Schafer bobbled the ball. Nassir Little Jersey . The Argentina striker has not played for the Premier League leaders since September when he refused to warm up during a Champions League match and only returned last week from a three-month unauthorized absence at home. City coach Roberto Mancini had initially told Tevez he would never play for City again after his act of public insubordination, but later softened his stance and only asked for an apology. BALTIMORE -- There might come a time when Ohio State coach Urban Meyer expands his offensive playbook to include various long passes, reverses and bootlegs. Until his young quarterback gains confidence and his line grows up, the No. 5 Buckeyes will likely count on the kind of conservative game plan that proved good enough to beat Navy 34-17 Saturday. Redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns in his college debut as Ohio State earned its 25th consecutive regular-season victory. "The best thing about this game," Meyer said, "is we won it and its in our rearview mirror." Elevated into a starting role after senior Braxton Miller injured his right shoulder two weeks ago, Barrett went 12 for 15 -- including an 80-yard TD pass to Devin Smith that put the Buckeyes up 20-14 with 4:10 left in the third quarter. "I thought J.T. did OK," Meyer said. "He was good. I never felt he was rattled." Ohio State (1-0) managed only two field goals in the first half. Although Barrett threw an ill-advised interception, he wasnt entirely to blame for the poor showing. "We wanted to open it up a little bit more in the first half but we didnt. It wasnt because of him; it was because of our offensive line," Meyer said. "Theres a standard set for offensive line play for many, many years. It didnt resemble an offensive line at Ohio State the first two quarters." Ohio State won despite allowing the Midshipmen (0-1) to gain 370 yards on the ground, including 118 by Ryan Williams-Jenkins. But a Navy fumble turned into an OSU touchdown and a blown coverage assignment by the Midshipmen led to the pivotal 80-yard score. "We had some uncharacteristic mistakes that we dont normally have, and against a team like Ohio State you cant do that," Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said. "We knew coming into the game we had to play perfect and couldnt make turnovers or give up any big plays." Barrett became the second freshman since 1950 to start a season opener at quarterback for Ohio State. He ran nine times for 50 yards, did not throw downfield often and relied heavily on a ground game that finally wore down the Midshipmen in the fourth quarter. "It was better at the end than the start," Barrett said. After Navy closed to 20-17 with 13:54 remaining, the Buckeeyes launched a 10-play drive that featured just one pass. Wesley Matthews Jersey. Ezekiel Elliott converted a fourth-and-1 from the Navy 45 and Barrett threw a 19-yard completion before Elliott ran in from the 10. Barretts 9-yard touchdown pass to Mike Thomas made it 34-17 with 2:09 left, and Meyer could finally breathe easy. "We have nine new starters on offence," he said. "Thats not a normal transition." Navy held a 7-6 lead and was driving on the opening series of the second half when Joey Bosa hit Keenan Reynolds as the quarterback was tossing a pitch to Demond Brown. The ball got loose, and Darron Lee took it 61 yards the other way for a touchdown. The Midshipmen responded immediately. Williams-Jenkins ran 67 yards to the Ohio State 17, and Reynolds scored from the 1 to put Navy up 14-13. That gave Reynolds a touchdown in nine straight games, tying the school record. The momentum turned when Smith got behind the Navy defence on the right side, broke a tackle and scored on the longest touchdown against the Midshipmen since an 87-yarder by Tulane in November 2004. Navy drove to the Ohio State 18 on the final possession of the first half before Nick Sloan missed a 36-yard field goal, keeping the Buckeyes deficit at 7-6. Throwing mostly short, safe passes, Barrett went 8 for 11 for 96 yards and an interception before halftime. Barretts first play at Ohio State was a pass completion for 14 yards. Although he appeared comfortable in the no-huddle offence, the Buckeyes quickly punted. Ohio States next possession began with four straight runs, followed by a sack. A shovel pass on a third-and-21 gained 16 yards to set up a 46-yard field goal by freshman Sean Nuernberger. Navy answered with an 11-play drive, 10 of them runs, capped by a 1-yard touchdown sweep by DeBrandon Sanders. Midway through the second quarter, Barrett went 4 for 4 for 54 yards to bring the Buckeyes to the Navy 8. But he hurried a first-down pass and was intercepted by Parrish Gaines. "After the interception, I was like, J.T., you knew you shouldnt have thrown it. And I still threw it," Barrett said. Barretts inexperience showed again on the next series, when Ohio State had to settle for a field goal. On a third-and-2 from the Navy 4, Barrett rolled right and pitched too late to Elliott, who was smothered for a 7-yard loss. ' ' '
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