Kritik und Anregungen » nishing contention.Im not going to

HOUSTON -- Tony Parker showed why he is so valuable to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night.Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs with 20 points in their 106-100 victory over Houston, but Parkers court presence proved to be the biggest difference between this victory and Wednesdays nights 101-99 home loss to the Rockets without him.Hes a great point guard, very smart, knows where guys spots are on the floor, and hes been here before, Leonard said. He knows what (Gregg Popovich) expects, and if one of us gets out of line or if were doing well, he tells us. He just makes us better.Parker missed three games with knee soreness last week, and the Spurs lost consecutive home games for the first time since December 2014. On Saturday night, he scored a season-high 16 points and played 27 minutes, his second-highest total of the season.He gets us organized, Popovich said. He hasnt been with us so much this season. Hes just a stability factor, and that was a big help.Parker was not made available to reporters.The Spurs improved to 5-0 on the road, where they have outscored opponents by an average of 12.8 points.James Harden had a triple-double for a second straight game against the Spurs, finishing with 25 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, but also added seven costly turnovers. A deep 3-pointer by Eric Gordon cut the lead to four with 2 minutes remaining, but Houston struggled to make stops down the stretch.Just messed up coverages, Harden said. Theyre a really good team. They make you mess up.Gordon scored 27 points off the bench, going 7 of 12 on 3-pointers. Houston attempted 47 3s in the game, making 15 (31.9 percent).The Rockets have lost three of their last four home games against the Spurs in the I-10 rivalry after winning seven of the previous eight. With the Spurs up 16 early in the fourth, a loud Go Spurs Go! chant overtook the Toyota Center crowd.LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 points, Pau Gasol scored 15 and Manu Ginobili added 12 off the bench.Harden hit a running 39-footer at the buzzer to cut San Antonios lead to 26-22 after one. Leonard tried a buzzer-beater of his own to end the second quarter with a deep 3, but it clanked off the front of the rim, and the Spurs led 49-40 at the half.TIP-INSSpurs: Danny Green returned to the starting lineup after resting for Friday nights win over Detroit. Green scored five points in 27 minutes. ... Houston native SF Jonathon Simmons scored six points in 16 minutes. ... San Antonio entered Saturdays game leading the league in free throw percentage (86.3 percent) and ranking second in 3-point percentage (39.6 percent) and finished 19 of 24 from the line and 5 of 18 from 3.Rockets: Houston went scoreless for the first 3 minutes of the game, missing its first eight shots. ... PG Patrick Beverley was inactive as he continues to recover from knee surgery but participated in pregame warmups and plans to play later this week. ... Trevor Ariza had 15 points, and Clint Capela added 12 points and 10 rebounds.HARDENS MINUTESHarden entered Saturday ranking fifth in the league with 37.6 minutes per game and played 39 minutes on Saturday night. Coach Mike DAntoni said reducing those minutes as much as possible is important in keeping Harden healthy down the stretch, and he believes getting Beverley back in the next few games will allow Harden some added rest.Thats just too many minutes, DAntoni said. Pat will be able to alleviate a lot of that.ANOTHER ONEHarden joined Elvin Hayes as the only players in franchise history to record consecutive triple-doubles. The Rockets fell to 9-2 in the 11 games where Harden has had a triple-double.LIVE BY THE 3.Houston forward Ryan Anderson said Leonards defense was a factor in holding him to 1 of 7 from beyond the arc.Obviously, their main goal is to get me off the 3-point line, Anderson said. They did a great job of taking away normal shots, but at the same time, I had a lot of open looks that I just missed and thats on me.ALL TOGETHER NOWWith plenty of early season absences from Green, Parker and others, Saturday night was the first time this season where the Spurs had everyone in their usual rotation available in the game.UP NEXTSpurs: Host Miami on Monday night.Rockets: Host Philadelphia on Monday night.Brian Urlacher Youth Jersey . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. Roquan Smith Bears Jersey . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. http://www.bearsrookiestore.com/Bears-Mike-Singletary-Jersey/ . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Tom Waddle Womens Jersey . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. William Perry Womens Jersey . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game.Fernando Alonso wants to find out in the forthcoming weeks whether there will be changes at McLaren this winter amid uncertainty over Ron Denniss future.Sky Sports News HQ understands Denniss position at the helm of the team he has controlled for over 30 years is under threat.Dennis has responded to the speculation by stating he has no intention of stepping down. Former F1 team boss, and friend of Dennis, David Richards told the F1 Report the 69-year-old would only want to leave when McLaren were winning again. Alonso, who endured a fractious relationship with Dennis during a previous single season at McLaren in 2007 before returning on friendlier terms in 2015, says he is in the dark about the situation.I just read the same thing as you read probably, he told Sky Sports News HQ.We have been racing now quite constantly in the last three or four weeks. Now between Mexico and Brazil, or after Abu Dhabi, we will sit with the team and know exactly what is the truth behind all these things. So right now I cannot tell you much. Former Benetton and BAR Team Principal David Richards and Marc Priestley discuss whether Ron Dennis should leave McLaren After three decades as team principal, Dennis stepped away from day-to-day involvement in the racing team in 2009 but returned in early 2014 to replace successor Martin Whitmarsh as CEO and oversee a restructure of the teams management structure.dddddddddddd The Englishmans association with the team dates back to 1981 and he owns 25 per cent of the McLaren Technology Group.Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button gave guarded responses when asked whether any departure for Dennis would harm the team into 2017.Weve been racing for many teams for many years and obviously Ron is part of McLaren, and McLaren is part of Ron. It has been always like that, said Alonso.The F1 Gossip ColumnFirst, we need to understand exactly what the real situation is and if there is any change I dont know for sure what these changes are.Team-mate Button declined to discuss the Dennis speculation directly, but insisted the team were making progress and morale was high as they strive to return to podium-finishing contention.Im not going to talk about any individuals, Button told SSNHQ. But I think the team is in a good place in terms of how much weve improved over the last few years and going through the difficulty of the new relationship with Honda last year, [which] was never going to be easy when youve had such a long relationship with another manufacturer. But its grown a lot over the last two years and every department has grown in the right direction and improved.There seems to be a good atmosphere in the team even though were nowhere near where we want to be yet. There is a good feel about the place, thats all I can say on the matter.Dont miss the Mexican GP on Sunday evening. The race is live at 7pm on Sky Sports F1; Watch with a NOW TV day pass - £6.99, no contractAlso See:Ron wont go until McLaren winWATCH: The latest F1 Report ' ' '