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HOUSTON -- Dwight Howard didnt think he was aggressive enough in Houstons two losses to Sacramento this season and vowed to attack from the beginning when the Rockets faced the Kings on Wednesday night. Howards plan worked. He had 17 points and 10 rebounds by halftime on the way to a 26-point night to help the Rockets cruise to their third straight win, a 119-98 victory over the Kings. Howard also had 13 rebounds and four blocks and James Harden added 24 points and nine assists before the pair went to the bench for the fourth quarter. "The last couple of games against those guys, I didnt come out aggressive like I needed to on both ends of the floor," Howard said. "Ive been looking at some film and I wanted to get off to a better start. Its not just about scoring. Its defence and things like that." The Rockets took the lead midway through the first quarter and didnt trail again. The Kings struggled after losing top scorers Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins to injuries before halftime. Gay, who tied a career high with 41 points on Tuesday night, injured his left Achilles tendon in the first quarter and Cousins sprained his left ankle in the second. Sacramento coach Mike Malone didnt have any more information on the injuries after the game and said that theyd know more on Thursday. "It was a big loss to lose both of those guys in the first half," Malone said. "Unfortunately, those other guys that were able to play didnt respond. We got our (tails) kicked tonight and were a no-excuse team ... so the fact that we guarded no one tonight has nothing to do with them not being able to play in the second half." Derrick Williams scored 22 points with 11 rebounds and Isaiah Thomas added 20 points for the Kings. Houston led by 15 points entering the fourth quarter and padded its lead with Harden and Howard relaxing on the bench in their warm-up shirts. They used a 15-3 spurt in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the fourth to make it 103-76. Sacramento missed eight shots, including three layups in that span, and its only points came on free throws by Williams. The Rockets were up by nine points early in the third quarter before scoring 10 straight points to stretch their advantage to 65-46. Chandler Parsons and Patrick Beverley both had 3-pointers in that stretch. Jimmer Fredette made a 3-pointer that cut Houstons lead to 11 points with about eight minutes left in the second quarter. Cousins went down on Sacramentos next possession when he was knocked to the court on a hard foul by Beverley as he drove to the basket. Beverley stood over him for a second while he was down and Beverley received a technical. Cousins entered the game leading the team in scoring (23.1) and rebounding (11.7). He scored just two points before getting hurt, snapping a streak of 30 straight games with at least 10 points. The Rockets used a 6-2 spurt after that to extend their lead to 44-29. Sacramento got within eight two times after that in the second quarter, but Howard scored six points with two alley-oop dunks in the last 1 1/2 minutes of the first half to help the Rockets lead 55-44 at the break. The Kings were up by five points early before Houston used a 14-5 run to take a 21-17 lead with about three minutes left in the first quarter. Gay, who entered the game averaging 20.2 points, was injured at the beginning of that run, which was powered by eight points from Harden. Houston coach Kevin McHale was impressed with Hardens work on Wednesday night. "He started getting to the rim," McHale said. "I thought we were settling for a lot and playing East and West. We told them to get to the hole and put pressure on the basket and they did." Gay has started all 21 games for the Kings since being traded from Toronto on Dec. 9. Aaron Gray received a flagrant foul soon after that when he grabbed Harden as he was heading to the basket. Harden made both free throws as part of an 8-2 run that put the Rockets up 29-22 at the end of the first. Omri Casspi added 20 points and tied a career-high with 12 rebounds and Parsons added 19 points with 10 rebounds. NOTES: Houstons Terrence Jones missed his second straight game with a deep thigh bruise and Ronnie Brewer sat out with a sore calf. ... Sacramentos Quincy Acy and Harden both received technical fouls on the same play in the third quarter. ... Thomas has made at least one 3-pointer in 35 straight games, tying the fourth-longest streak in franchise history. Joel Pineiro Mariners Jersey . Locke overcame a shaky start to pitch seven innings and Josh Harrison had three hits to extend his hot streak as the Pirates beat the Miami Marlins 7-3 on Wednesday night. Dave Niehaus Mariners Jersey . Hall joined Bengals teammates for a voluntary workout on Monday. Hes got his mobility back and is on schedule to be ready for the season. CINCINNATI - Bengals cornerback Leon Hall is happy with his recovery from a torn Achilles tendon and expects to be ready for the start of training camp in July. https://www.cheapmariners.com/1825k-taij...riners.html.com) - Devon Johnson ran for a school record 272 yards with four touchdowns and No. Braden Bishop Mariners Jersey .Y. - Brooklyn Nets centre Brook Lopez has a strained lower back and will miss at least a week. Randy Johnson Mariners Jersey . Rookie Marek Mazanec made 39 saves for his first NHL victory and the Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-2 Saturday night.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- A second straight complete game was not needed from C.J. Wilson, who had enough offensive and defensive support from his teammates to make working into the seventh enough. Mike Trout homered and threw out a runner at third base to complete an inning-ending double play, Chris Iannetta also went deep, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the punchless Kansas City Royals 6-1 Friday night. Wilson (6-3) allowed a run and four hits, struck out three and walked four in 6 1-3 innings. The left-hander also hit two batters, including leadoff man Nori Aoki with his 105th and final pitch. "He was swinging at everything, and I didnt want him to hit another little blooper," Wilson said. "So I wanted to throw a pitch that he was going to have to challenge him to swing hard at. It was up and in, and he stands completely over the plate. I would have tried to get out of the way." Aoki had two singles and a double, while the rest of the Royals offence produced just two hits. "Youre not going to score many runs when you get five hits on the night, and three are from one guy," manager Ned Yost said. Wilson, coming off a 127-pitch shutout against Tampa Bay last Saturday, threw fewer than 111 pitches for the first time in 10 starts this season. "Its frustrating. You make a lot of good pitches and they keep fouling them off. But you have to give them credit for working my pitch count up," he said. Sean Burnett retired Eric Hosmer on a grounder to second base for the final out of the seventh, after Kevin Jepsen relieved Wilson and struck out Alcides Escobar. It was Burnetts first appearance on a major league mound since May 26, 2013 after undergoing surgery on Aug. 7 to repair a torn flexor tendon in his left elbow. "From an emotional standpoint, were all rooting for him," Wilson said. "Its tough for a guy whos been working hard and has had more setbacks after almost a year. We need him, because he can be really effective." The Angels won for the 11th time in 14 games and are a season-best seven games over .500. Danny Duffy (2-4) gave up five runs and nine hits over six innings in his fourth start since he began filling in ffor Bruce Chen, who has a sore back.dddddddddddd The 25-year-old left-hander was coming off a 1-0 victory against Baltimore in which he retired his first 20 batters. "I probably could have mixed it up a little better, but I got lazy on a couple of off-speed pitches and I paid the price," Duffy said. The Angels took a 2-1 lead in the second when Iannetta hit his fourth homer of the season with one out and No. 9 hitter Collin Cowgill hit a two-out RBI single. Royals centre fielder Lorenzo Cain robbed David Freese of a three-run homer in the seventh before C.J. Cron followed with an RBI single for the Angels to make it 6-1. Trout gave Wilson a little more breathing room with his ninth home run leading off the third. The Angels extended the margin to 5-1 in the sixth on Eric Aybars RBI single and a run-scoring double by Grant Green. The Royals were trailing 3-1 in the fifth when Aoki led off with a double. He tried to tag up on Hosmers one-out flyball to centre and was thrown out as Freese took Trouts throw on the fly and slapped the tag on Aoki. "Thats not a good chance he took right there," Yost said. "You never want to make the third out. We had Billy (Butler) coming up. Trout has a 70 arm, and when he catches the ball, you dont challenge in that situation." Alex Gordon opened the scoring with a two-out run-scoring single. NOTES: In his six starts at the "Big A" this season, Wilson has allowed only one home run -- a solo shot by Seattles Brad Miller on April 1. ... Angels hitting coach Don Baylor, who hasnt been in uniform since breaking his right leg while catching a ceremonial first pitch from Vladimir Guerrero on opening night, stopped by the ballpark and said his rehab is progressing well. He is hoping to return to the dugout and the batting cages sometime before the All-Star break. ... Burnett was coming off a six-game rehab assignment with Double-A Arkansas. OF/IB Efren Navarro was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake to make room for him on the 25-man roster. ... This was the fifth time since Iannetta and Wilson became teammates in 2012 that Iannetta homered when they were batterymates. Wilson is 5-0 in those games. 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