Fussball » this year and a win happens by itself, you

NEW ORLEANS -- Tyreke Evans sore right knee -- and long-term contract -- gave him every reason to sit out the final two games of a losing season with the Pelicans. Yet even as coaches and trainers encouraged him to rest, Evans was having none of it. Instead, he played some of his most relentless, productive and crowd-pleasing basketball of the season. He capped it off with 25 points and 10 assists on Wednesday night, and New Orleans closed out a difficult, injury riddled season with a 105-100 victory over the playoff-bound Houston Rockets. "I just want to have fun, man," Evans said. "It was my last game this year. ... I was hurt. I could have easily sat out, taken the back seat, but coach talked to us about finishing strong and thats what I wanted to do." Two nights earlier, Evans scored a career-high 41 points in a stunning victory over Oklahoma City. Against Houston, he enlivened the crowd with end-to-end drives, high razzle-dazzle dribbles and an array of midair contortions in order to get off shots in traffic near the basket. "He drove me crazy with some of his uh-oh plays, but these last two games, I hope he gets player of the week," coach Monty Williams said. "We needed these two games to go into the summer. He stepped up big-time and carried the team." The Rockets, who had already locked up the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, rested James Harden, Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin. Still, the game was competitive as a number of role players sought to make the most of extended action. Troy Daniels, a rookie guard out of VCU whod scored only 20 points in 31 minutes all season, hit 6 3s and finished with a career-high 22 points. "I was ready to get out there," Daniels said. "It shows the coach has a lot of faith in me. Obviously I have a lot of work to do and a lot of progress to make, but it was a good start for me to get my confidence up." Evans gave New Orleans the lead for good with a driving layup with 2:35 left, then sealed it with a powerful move in which he wedged his way between Jordan Hamilton and Josh Powell for a running, right-handed hook from the lane. "It wasnt just about, We aint making the playoffs; lets pack it up," said guard Anthony Morrow, nodding at Evans. "When a guy who signs a long-term deal still plays the last two games of the season the way he did, it says a lot about him." Austin Rivers added 18 points and Morrow 15 for the Pelicans, who shot 52.4 per cent. Neither team led by more than single digits. New Orleans had the largest lead at 90-81, but Houston responded with a late 11-4 run that included 3s by Hamilton and Daniels, then took a brief 100-99 lead when Hamilton stole the ball and converted a fast-break lay-in with 2:51 left. Regular Houston starters Terrence Jones, who had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Patrick Beverly, who had 14 points, also played as if it mattered. Hamilton hit four 3s on his way to 14 points and Donatas Motiejunas had 11 points and 10 rebounds. "We werent going to change in the standings, so we played a bunch of guys that we hadnt played before," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "Its time to get some guys comfortable." Dwight Howard was among a minority of players who looked like as if he was merely going through the motions. He was 1 of 5 shooting, including a missed 3 after which he allowed a smirk, and grabbed four rebounds while turning the ball over three times. But Howard had more important things to think about with the fourth-seeded Rockets, who won 54 games this season, starting a playoff series against Portland on Sunday. Notes: After missing the past two games with a left ankle injury, Pelicans guard Brian Roberts played 4 minutes, long enough to make three free throws. That got him to 125 made foul shots this season, qualifying him for the official NBA lead in free throw shooting percentage at 93.9 per cent. "To have that, thats something thats special and something Ill never forget," Roberts said. ... Pelicans rookie C Jeff Withey tied a career high with five blocks. ... The loss was Houstons first against the Pelicans in four meetings this season. Cheap Nuggets Jerseys . Signs of a turnaround have emerged in this series at Minnesota. Brian Roberts had three doubles and a triple for the first four-extra-base-hit game of his 14-year career, and the Yankees used their bullpen to preserve a 6-5 win over the Twins on Friday. Alex English Jersey . Those who impressed in each of the three events were asked to attend the main CFL Combine which begins Friday in Toronto. http://www.cheapnuggetsjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-michael-porter-jr-jersey . "Ive still got it," Seattles ace said with a sly grin. Riding that fastball carrying a little more zip, Hernandez took a shutout bid into the ninth inning as the Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 on Wednesday night. On the verge of a brilliant shutout and first complete game since Aug. Cheap Swingman Nuggets Jerseys .com) - Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh called Joe Flacco the NFLs best quarterback last week. Allen Iverson Jersey . Saltalamacchia drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning, Henderson Alvarez won for the first time in three starts and the Miami Marlins beat the Braves 3-2 on Thursday night. SINGAPORE -- Karrie Webb slipped up several weeks ago at the Australian Ladies Masters when she signed an incorrect scorecard and was disqualified. For a moment at the HSBC Womens Champions on Thursday, she thought she had made a similar mistake. After shooting a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead in the opening round, Webb feared she may have forgotten to sign her scorecard. She rushed back into the scoring tent only to find her scorecard was just fine. "Ive just had trouble getting out of the scorer tent since then," she said about her mistake in Australia. "I walked out (today) and couldnt remember if I signed my card, which it would have been too late anyway." Swedens Caroline Hedwall and American Paula Creamer were tied for second after shooting 5-under 67, a stroke ahead of 2012 champion Angela Stanford and Taiwans Teresa Lu in joint fourth. Disqualification aside, Webb is having a strong start to the season. A week after the ill-fated Australian Ladies Masters, she won her fifth Womens Australian Open title, and 40th overall. The 39-year-old Australian has won seven majors in her long career, but none since the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2006. Her results have been consistent, if not dominant, in recent years -- she had six top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour last year and one win at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. "Ive had a good career and I feel like I want to finish in the fashion that I started," she said. "I just continue to work hard, and my working hard now is probably a little different to my working hard 20 years ago, but its still working hard." Webb birdied four of her first six holes on Thursday, then sank a difficult 15-foot putt to save par on the par-4 11th hole.dddddddddddd Her only mistake on the green was a close miss on the 12th hole when her birdie putt from 2 feet lipped out of the hole. Creamer has also had a fast start to the year, finishing tied for third at her first two tournaments -- the Bahamas LPGA Classic and the Womens Australian Open. Shes played well on this course in Singapore, too, finishing in third place here last year. The American hasnt had a win on the LPGA Tour, though, since her breakthrough victory at the Womens U.S. Open in 2010. "My main goal is just to be very consistent this year and a win happens by itself, you dont have to force any of that," she said. World No. 1 Inbee Park, who finished runner-up to Swedens Anna Nordqvist last week at the LPGA Thailand tournament, had a 2-under 70 and was in a tie for seventh with four others. Park, the winner of three majors last year, could lose her top ranking to Suzann Pettersen this week if the Norwegian wins the event and Park doesnt finish higher than a tie for third. Pettersen had a 1-under 71 on Thursday for equal 12th place. "It wasnt a bad putting day, but I hit the ball great today," Park said. "And I didnt get myself in big trouble so thats good." Sixteen-year-old Lydia Ko of New Zealand struggled with her putting, making just two birdies and finishing at 1-over 73, tied for 27th place with Nordqvist, American Michelle Wie, former No. 1 Yani Tseng and several others. Ko is not the youngest in the field this week. Fifteen-year-old Singaporean Amanda Tan won a qualifying tournament in January to become the youngest-ever player at the HSBC Champions. She was in last place after a 7-over 79. ' ' '