an into a teammate against San Jose on March 29. Hes been skating

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Although he struggled to hit shots in regulation, James Harden demonstrated in overtime why hes the NBAs leading scorer.Harden scored a season-high 44 points, including 10 in the extra period, and also had eight assists to lead the Houston Rockets over the Sacramento Kings 113-109 on Thursday night.After tying the game with a 3-pointer, Harden opened the extra period with seven unanswered points. The win was the fifth in six games for the Rockets, who are 9-3 on the road.Harden missed 17 of 27 shots in regulation, then went 4 of 5 in OT and converted three of four free throws, leading the way as the Rockets outscored the Kings 18-14 in the extra period.He was rolling. In overtime he just took over, Houston coach Kevin McHale said.Harden started overtime with a driving basket, hit a 3 and then added another basket to put the Rockets up 102-95. Collisons 3-pointer pulled the Kings within two, but Harden converted two free throws with 7.1 seconds left to seal the victory.I knew I had a lot left, said Harden, who shot 14 for 32 and made 13 of 15 free throws. I just wanted to attack and create opportunities. I didnt shoot well in the first four quarters, but I wanted to come out aggressive in overtime.Trevor Ariza scored 15 and Patrick Beverley had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets. Donatas Motiejunas added 14 points and Jason Terry 13.Darren Collison scored 24 points and Ben McLemore added 21 for the Kings, who dropped their second straight and seventh in nine games. Derrick Williams scored 13 and Jason Thompson had 13 points and 15 rebounds.The Kings, who led by as many as 12 points, committed 22 turnovers that led to 27 Houston points in dropping another tight game.These losses are tough. We have to find ways to finish, Thompson said. We really have to know how to get leads and not worry about the scoreboard.Two of the NBAs top centres sat out: Houstons Dwight Howard and Sacramentos DeMarcus Cousins.The Rockets played their 11th straight game minus Howard, who has been out with a strained right knee. Houston is 8-3 without Howard, expected back in the lineup Saturday against visiting Denver.Cousins has missed the last eight games with viral meningitis and there is no projected date for his return. The Kings are 2-6 without Cousins this season; 4-22 over the past three seasons.Coming off an emotional loss Wednesday to Golden State, the Rockets appeared sluggish at times and struggled through three quarters, shooting 34 per cent and trailing 69-61.Houston shot 7 of 14 on 3s to fuel its fourth-quarter rally. The Rockets made two more 3s in overtime and finished 15 of 44 overall.We didnt do a good job in adjusting to James Harden. He kicked our butt tonight and got whatever he wanted, Kings coach Michael Malone said.___A FRUSTRATED KINGThe Rockets double-teamed Rudy Gay frequently and it showed. Gay missed 14 of 18 shots and scored 13 points. His night also included an altercation with Beverley. He and Gay were given technical fouls after a shoving match midway through the third quarter underneath the Kings basket. After that, Sacramento held Houston scoreless for 3 1/2 minutes and ran off 10 unanswered points to build a 65-53 lead.TIP-INSRockets: Terry was booed loudly every time he touched the ball, and fans derisively chanted his name throughout the game. Terry was traded to the Kings last season, but sat out the remainder of the schedule due to injury, then helped orchestrate an off-season trade to Houston because he wanted to play for a team with championship aspirations.Kings: Sacramento is in the midst of a 14-game stretch (12 at home) in which it wont play outside the state of California until travelling to Brooklyn to begin a four-game trip Dec. 29. ... The entire team wore I Cant Breathe warmup shirts before the game.UP NEXTThe Rockets meet Denver in a home game Saturday.The Kings play visiting Detroit on Saturday. John Stockton Jazz Jersey . Picard had a goal and two assists to help Canada improve to 2-0 at the tournament. Seven different players scored for the two-time defending champions. "Today all four lines played excellent," said head coach Laura Schuler. Rudy Gobert Jersey . According to TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie, the deal will pay Schenn $2.25 million in the first year and $2.75 million in the second year. In 82 games with the Flyers in 2013-14, Schenn scored 20 goals and added 21 assists. http://www.jazzauthentic.com/kids-jeff-hornacek-jazz-jersey/. Returning to Davis Cup tennis, Federer cruised past Ilija Bozoljac, winning 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in less than two hours. Federer faced little challenge from Bozoljac, who served well but still was no match for his Swiss opponent. John Stockton Jersey . -- A lawyer for the fiancee of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez asked a judge Friday to throw out perjury charges, saying Shayanna Jenkins did not wilfully lie as she was bombarded with 1,630 questions over two days before a grand jury. Donovan Mitchell Jersey . Roy says he will know more about Duchenes potential playing status Sunday. Duchene has been out since damaging the MCL in his left knee when he ran into a teammate against San Jose on March 29. Hes been skating on his own all week, before joining the team Saturday hours before a pivotal game in a series tied at 2.The last two seasons injuries have ruined any chances the Toronto Blue Jays might have had of contending, especially those to the pitching staff. This time around the injury bug has bitten hard on the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Tampa Bay has three of their elite starting pitchers sidelined right now. Over the weekend, Alex Cobb strained a left oblique muscle during a stellar performance against the Cincinnati Reds. Hes gone four-to-six weeks. Lefty Matt Moore is due to play catch on the side today in Baltimore as doctors are trying to decide if he needs Tommy John surgery or whether his left elbow will get better with treatment and rest. Right hander Jeremy Hellickson, who also has an elbow issue, is hoping to be back in May or early June. Even a team as deep and talented as the Rays cant afford to lose three starting pitchers. The Red Sox also have problems. Star second baseman Dustin Pedroia has had to return to Beantown to get his left wrist checked out. Shane Victorino is out as well with a thumb injury and 39-year-old closer Koji Uehara is being examined to determine the cause of shoulder stiffness. The Yankees are no different. They lost their new closer David Robertson to the 15-day DL with a groin muscle pull, first baseman Mark Teixiera is injured again, catcher Francisco Cervelli has a hamstring problem, second baseman Brian Roberts had to sit out with back tightness and team captain Derek Jeter missed two games in a row over the weekend with quad tightness. The Yankees were so thin in the infield, they had to move Kelly Johnson back to third base, rookie Yangervis Solarte to second and have Carlos Beltran play his first game ever at first. The Baltimore Orioles biggest concern is star third baseman Manny Machado, who continues to rehab his surgically repaired knee. The Blue Jays have a few problems of their own with Maicer Izturis tripping on the dugout steps Sunday in Baltimore and spraining his left knee and then having to go on the 15-day DL. On the plus side, Jose Reyes and closer Casey Janssen could be back by next weekend in Cleveland and lefty J.A. Happ is already back up from Triple-A Buffalo. The bottom line is, the Blue Jays, Yankees and Rays are locked in a three-way tie for first in the A.L East at 7-6. The Orioles are second at 5-7 and the Red Sox are bringing up the rear at 5-8. By the weekend, the Jays should have the healthiest line-up in the division and this is the time for them to take advantage of their rivals injury woes and do some real damage. - The team that has really come of nowhere in the first two weeks of the season is the Milwaukee Brewers. Coincidentally, they had an identical record to the Blue Jays a year ago at 74-88. They are off to a torrid start this time around, winning nine-straight through Sunday and a 10-2 record. This is the second-best start in franchise history after 1987 when they started the year 13-0. Their startting rotation of Yovani Gallardo, Kyle Lohse, Matt Garza, Marco Estrada and Wily Peralta have nine quality starts in 12 games, and the staff ERA is a sparkling 1.dddddddddddd.80. Ryan Braun has had a good bounce back year, so far, from his Biogenesis PED suspension and has made a successful move from left field to right to clear a spot for youngster Khrys Davis, who is regarded as a budding star. The other big story for the Brewers is closer Francisco Rodriguez, once a star with the Angels. He stepped on a cactus is Spring Training and was still pulling out spines until about a week ago. His left foot, his plant foot when throwing, was so tender that he had to pay extra attention to his delivery to keep it consistent. K-Rod has been perfect so far, going four-for-four in save situations. The teams payroll, according to Cots Baseball Contracts, is about $103.4 million. Thaats roughly $29 million less than the that of the Jays. The interesting thing is that they have a dozen players on their roster making the minimum of between $500-534K. In other words, there is a good mix of veterans and youth. The Brewers lead the NL Central by three games on the St. Louis Cardinals and they open an early season showdown series at Miller Park on Monday night against the Redbirds. - There is a Milwaukee connection to one of the players the Blue Jays have in Buffalo. Juan Francisco is a 62", 245-pound first/third baseman, who was released by the Brewers during spring training. The Jays picked him up to add a little punch with the Bisons. The 26-year-old left-handed hitter has provided just that. In fact, last season he hit 18 homers split between the Brewers and the Atlanta Braves. The knock on Francisco is that hes not every good defensively, but hes turned into a good pick-up for Buffalo especially since the Brewers are picking up $331,967 of his salary. - Tuesday marks the 11th-annual Jackie Robinson Day where the MLB honours the man who broke the colour barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The year before Jackie broke in with the Dodgers organization, he played with the old Montreal Royals in the International League. I was curious to find out who was the first African-American to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs in that same league. It didnt happen until 1951. In July of that year, Jack Kent Cooke, the communications mogul who later owned the Washington Redskins and Los Angeles Kings, bought the Leafs. A week-and-a-half later, he signed two African-American players, pitcher Leon Day and catcher-third baseman Charlie White. Later in that season, another black pitcher, Frank Barnes, joined the Leafs. He only made two appearances with the club and had an ERA of 45. Of the three, though, according to my research, Barnes is the only one of the trio still alive. He is 87-years-old. Yankees great Mariano Rivera was the last player to wear the number 42. Now that Rivera has retired, the number 42 will never be worn again. ' ' '