HOUSTON -- Houston is starting to make a habit of 40-point first quarters. After not scoring 40 points in the opening quarter in the last five seasons, the Rockets have done it five times this season and twice in the last three games. Terrence Jones had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the Rockets opened a big early lead and beat the Detroit Pistons 118-110 on Saturday night for their third win in four games. Jones finished 10 of 15 from the floor as Houston shot 50 per cent for the game, including 61 per cent in the first half. Houston scored 41 points in the first quarter and finished 11 of 33 from behind the arc. "We got a big halftime lead and didnt play well in the second half," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "We came out and really moved the ball. We had it going up and down and just did a nice job of doing what weve been talking about doing, which is attacking early, getting inside to Dwight (Howard) and making some nice passes." James Harden added 20 points and 12 assists, Patrick Beverley had 19 points and Howard chipped in 17 points and eight rebounds. Reserve Omri Casspi scored 16 points and Jordan Hamilton had 13. While saying it was an important win before the Rockets begin a stretch against some of the top teams in the NBA on Tuesday against Miami, Howard did not like the way Houston came out in the second half. "I thought we should have really put the foot on the gas," Howard said. "We didnt. We allowed them to get back into the game, and that is not what we need to do if we want to be a championship team." Rodney Stuckey had 23 points on 10 of 17 shooting off the bench, and Josh Smith added 21 points for the Pistons, who dropped their fourth straight and seventh in eight games. Andre Drummond had 16 points and 17 rebounds, Greg Monroe had 10 points and 14 rebounds, and Brandon Jennings chipped in 11 points and eight assists for Detroit, which shot 45 per cent from the field. "In the first half, we didnt play with the energy, enthusiasm or desire you have to play at to play against any NBA team, let alone a high-level team like Houston," Detroit interim coach John Loyer said. "We came in here, and I told our guys we played harder in practice than the first 24 minutes. We had more juice, energy running a three-man weave than we did in the first half. There are two halves to a game, and fortunately, we played a much better second half." Detroit fell four games out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Drummond said the Pistons have enough time to make the playoffs. "We have enough time to do anything, and were four games out, so it comes to what we do as a team," Drummond said. "It cant be one or two people. We have to be as a collective group to want to buckle down and try to win games." Trailing 102-84 with 10:33 remaining, Detroit outscored the Rockets 13-5 over the next 4:22 to cut the lead to 10 on Smiths free throws, but Beverley nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back to 16 with four minutes remaining. The Pistons closed within seven once more with a 10-1 run, capped by consecutive layups by Stuckey, but got no closer. "I think guys stopped playing a little bit because of the lead," Jones said. "We just tried to make sure that we got back to it on the defensive end to make sure we got the win. I think we did that late in the fourth." The Rockets, who never trailed, moved to 40-19. Only the 1993-94 team that started 40-15 got to 40 wins faster. Houston used a 16-2 run over a three-minute stretch of the first quarter to open a 23-6 lead on Howards two free throws 5 minutes into the game. "We did a good job of coming out with some aggression and getting some defensive stops and getting out in transition," Harden said. Houston expanded its lead to 58-33 on Howards free throw with 4:58 remaining in the first half. The Rockets led 69-46 at the break. NOTES: Houston forward Chandler Parsons missed the game with an illness. . Rockets centre Greg Smith underwent an exploratory arthroscopic knee surgery Wednesday to repair a medial meniscus tear and to examine changes to ligament structures in his right knee. Smith, who has missed 36 games this season, is out indefinitely. . Drummond leads the Eastern Conference with 43 double-doubles this season Michael Chavis Jersey . -- Green Bay wide receiver Greg Jennings will be on the sideline as the Packers make their push for a perfect regular season. Bill Lee Red Sox Jersey . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. https://www.cheapredsox.com/1011z-hector...ed-sox.html.com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Eduardo Rodriguez Red Sox Jersey . McCutchen hit his first home run in over a month, doubled twice and scored two runs to help the Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Sunday and take three of four from the defending NL West champions. Mike Shawaryn Red Sox Jersey . Just as the meeting was beginning, Major League Baseball unveiled Rule 7.13, an experimental rule for the 2014 season aimed at eliminating what the league calls “egregious” runner/catcher collisions at home plate.OTTAWA - Daniel Alfredsson on Thursday morning donned his old Ottawa Senators No. 11 jersey and announced his retirement from the NHL. Here is his speech in its entirety:One evening nearly 20 years ago a young man in a small town in Sweden got a phone call that would change his life. It was an invitation to play hockey in Canada. I had never been to North America, I had a young girlfriend, Bibbi, and it was a long way from Goteborg to Ottawa. But we made the leap. We began an incredible new chapter of our lives in your town starting in August 1995. Our marvellous boys were born here, and we grew from youngsters into aging parents. You made your town our town. Thank you.It was an incredible experience to play hockey with so many great players, so many great friends over so many great seasons. I really realize that Im a very lucky guy. Even more important to me than my time on the ice was my time in our city, meeting new people, making new friends, watching my boys grow, and most of all beginning a campaign to help change attitudes towards those struggling with mental illness. My work with the Royal Ottawa Hospital has been another high point in my life. Whatever I gave has been more than repaid in seeing the changes beginning to happen and some of the lives that I have touched. It is still an important part of my life and will continue to be so.Some of you may remember nearly four years ago now, my body started sending me signals that all these years of hockey had a cost. My back began to act up, and I began to have the kind of issues bodies develop after years of physical work. I worked hard to fight it off and I got some great help along the way and I got another two great seasons in Ottawa and a third one last year. But in the back of my mind, I still knew that the clock is ticking. Then on a Saturday morning two summers ago, I got another phone call from an old Swedish pal of mine. This call started a process that would launch the next chapter in our lives. It was a very, very hard decision to makee: changing teams, uproot my family, start over again in a new place.dddddddddddd But change helps you grow. New experiences are as important when youre young, like my children, as they were for me at 22 or even today. Weve had a great year in Detroit: new friends, a new team, new adventures. Thank you Detroit.Ive grown and learned a lot in the past 18 months. I realize that you never stop learning, especially when youre open to new beginnings and new chapters. Then last season my body began to complain once more. The old injury and the hard work of recovery began all over again. I worked hard to rehab my back this summer so I could play another year. However, about three weeks ago I realized its time to retire. Its another hard decision. Then I got another important phone call from Ottawa. Bryan said he and Mr. Melnyk had spoken and had an idea that I should not end my career in Detroit but with a proper retirement here in our adopted hometown. I spoke with Ken Holland about my retirement and that Bryan and Mr. Melnyk wanted me to retire as an Ottawa Senator, and Ken encouraged me to retire here. He said its the right thing to do.I was taken aback by this offer. I never believed that my career entitled me to any special treatment. However Bibbi and I both agreed this was the right thing to do and it would give us a chance to say thank you to the people and the fans of Ottawa. So here we are. Today I officially retire as an Ottawa Senator and another new chapter will begin tonight as we say goodbye to Ottawa. The future may hold some role for me in hockey again, but not this year. This is one for my family, for my own life and for reflecting on where weve been and deciding on whats next. For now Im just very grateful for this opportunity to say thank you and goodbye, and please no more phone calls for a while.Let me just say thank you to Ottawa, to the Sens, to the Sens fans and especially to Mr. Melnyk, thank you. And to Bryan. I really appreciate this. Merci et a bientot. Thank you. ' ' '