Cardinals in the race for the NLs second wild card.Theyr

BEIJING -- James Harden is quickly getting comfortable running his new coachs offense.Harden had 14 points and 8 assists in 24 minutes, leading the Houston Rockets to a 116-104 win over the New Orleans Pelicans in a preseason game Wednesday.The Rockets beat the Pelicans twice in China behind Hardens passing. He collected 15 assists in Sundays game in Shanghai. In Beijing, Harden greeted the crowd before the game with Nin hao! -- Chinese for hello! -- and looked at ease the rest of the game as the focal point of new coach Mike DAntonis system.Very comfortable, he told reporters afterward. My role really doesnt change. Just got the ball in my hands a little bit more.Houston built a 17-point lead after the first quarter and never relinquished it, though the Pelicans closed to within eight points in the fourth quarter.The Pelicans played most of the game without star Anthony Davis, who suffered what the team called a right ankle sprain in the first quarter. Davis fell to the court holding his ankle after appearing to trip while attempting to drive to the basket against Houstons Nene. After a timeout, he returned to the game briefly before heading to the locker room. Pelicans guard ETwaun Moore also left the game in the first half with a right heel contusion.Ryan Anderson had 11 points and 7 rebounds and Sam Dekker came off the bench to score 14 points for the Rockets. Montrezl Harrell scored 11 points, blocked two shots and made a 3-pointer from the corner in front of the Pelicans bench, after which he turned backward and smiled as he jogged back. Harrell missed his only three-point attempt during his rookie season but shot more threes during Summer League play this year.The Pelicans, meanwhile, missed several shots near the basket and made just 7 of 24 three-pointers.Four players scored in double figures off the bench: Quinn Cook had 20, Langston Galloway had 16 and Dante Cunningham and Cheick Diallo each had 12.Cook added eight assists in 21 minutes.You could see it in practice, Lance Stephenson said of Cook, who went undrafted last year out of Duke. He took what he was doing in practice and turned it into the game.TIP-INSTwo of Chinas basketball luminaries got loud ovations: retired Rockets center Yao Ming, recently inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and Stephon Marbury, the ex-NBA player who has gone onto stardom in the Chinese Basketball Association. Also sitting courtside were Hall of Famers Gary Payton, whose son Gary II had 1 point in 18 minutes for the Rockets, and Dikembe Mutombo, who was shown on the arena screens shaking his head and performing his signature finger wag.SILVER SPEAKSNBA Commissioner Adam Silver said before the game that he will resume discussions on the collective bargaining agreement soon after he returns from China, with two months left before a crucial deadline. Silver said he planned to hold meetings next week in an ongoing process that will eventually include several team owners, National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts and Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul, the players association president. Silver described all sides as very engaged and eager to get a deal done.UP NEXTRockets: Host Grizzlies on Saturday.Pelicans: Visit Hawks on Tuesday. wholesale nfl jerseys . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. china jerseys authentic .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. http://www.chinajerseyscheapwholesale.com/ .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. china jerseys nhl . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. china jerseys cheap . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No. NEW YORK -- A sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series last fall sent the New York Mets to the World Series for the first time in 15 seasons. But the Cubs are the team that looks ready to return to the NLCS -- and perhaps end a far longer drought -- as the two teams prepare for a four-game series that begins Thursday night at Citi Field.The Cubs arrived in New York fresh off a 9-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds that capped a three-game sweep at Great American Ball Park. The sweep snapped the longest skid of the season for Chicago, which lost six of seven prior to facing the Reds.This was a good series for us, said Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who hit a three-run inside-the-park homer Wednesday.The Cubs have had a lot of good series this year. Chicago, which is looking to reach the World Series for the first time since 1945 and win it all for the first time since 1908, is now a baseball-best 51-26, with a mammoth run differential -- plus-170 -- that suggests ot should have five or six more wins.The Mets, meanwhile, continued to spiral downward Wednesday with a 4-2 loss to the Washington Nationals. The loss capped a three-game sweep at the hands of the Nationals, who extended their lead over the Mets from three to six games.The loss ended a 2-5 road trip for the Mets, who were outscored 35-20 by the Nationals and Atlanta Braves. New York, which blew an early 4-0 lead in Mondays opener against the Nationals, went 23 straight innings without scoring until James Loney hit a twwo-run homer in the ninth inning Wednesday.ddddddddddddWere just not giving ourselves chances, Mets manager Terry Collins said. We just cant give our pitchers any room to work.At 40-37, New York is the closest it has been to .500 since April 24, though it is still only a half-game behind the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals in the race for the NLs second wild card.Theyre struggling lately and theyre banged up, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. It is different (than last year) for both teams.The series opener Thursday begins an 11-game homestand for the Mets that could dictate the direction the rest of their season takes. After the Cubs exit Sunday, the Mets host the Marlins for three games and the Nationals for four games.Weve still got 11 before the All-Star Break, Collins said. Weve just got to go play them.Mets left-hander Steven Matz is scheduled to start Thursday against Cubs right-hander John Lackey. Matz is pitching through a bone chip in his right elbow and got an extra day of rest after struggling last Friday, when he was staked to an eight-run lead but allowed six runs over 4 1/3 innings and was lifted before he could qualify for the win in the Mets 8-6 victory over the Braves.Lackey will be looking to bounce back from his worst start of the season. He took the loss last Saturday, when he gave up seven runs over 4 1/3 innings as the Cubs fell to the Marlins, 9-6. ' ' '