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HOUSTON - The Houston Rockets needed one win in their last two games or a loss by Portland on Wednesday to secure home-court advantage in their first-round playoff series against the Trail Blazers. They were certainly happy to wrap it up Monday night instead of waiting until Wednesday to learn their fate. Chandler Parsons scored 21 points and Dwight Howard and Terrence Jones added 20 apiece to lift the Rockets to a 104-98 win over the San Antonio Spurs. The victory gave No. 4 seed Houston home-court advantage in their first-round playoff series with Portland. "We fought hard for it," coach Kevin McHale said. "It took a little longer than I hoped, but we knew we had to get 54 wins and we got there with one to spare. Im glad we didnt have to wait until Wednesday to try and get it." James Harden agreed. "We wanted to come out here and take care of business and not rely on our last game on the road," Harden said. San Antonio used a big run at the beginning of the fourth quarter to go on top and was up by three later in the period when Houston scored eight straight to regain the lead at 95-90. A layup by Jeff Ayres got the Spurs within four points before Harden knocked down a long 2-pointer with less than a minute left to make it 100-94. Marco Belinelli had 17 points to lead the Spurs, who limited the minutes of stars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili with their top seed in the Western Conference playoffs already secure. Duncan had 12 points in less than 30 minutes, Parker scored 10 in about 25 and Ginobili had 10 in about 22. "We definitely did what we wanted to do," Parker said. "We were able to play everybody — no injuries — and we got a good sweat out of it. We did some good stuff and Houston got the win at the end." Harden added 16 points with seven assists for the Rockets, who swept the four-game series this season with San Antonio. Howard had 17 rebounds and Jones pulled down 11 for Houston. It was the second game back for Howard after he sat out the previous eight because of a left ankle strain. "I feel like I was in a better rhythm, but Im going to continue to get in shape, continue to do whatever I can to get my wind back so I can do more things on the floor." The Spurs opened the fourth quarter with a 14-4 run to go on top 82-80 for their first lead since the first quarter. Belinelli got that run going with a 3-pointer and finished it with a jump shot. Houston missed five shots, including two layups as San Antonio took the lead. A layup by Parker cut Houstons lead to three points with about eight minutes left in the third quarter. The Rockets then used a 7-2 run to push their advantage to 64-56. Parsons started the run with a 3-pointer and Jones did the rest, starting with a tip-in before capping it with a soaring, one-handed alley-oop dunk on a pass from Harden. The Rockets scored seven straight points later in the quarter to push its lead to 14, but San Antonio scored the last six points of the quarter with four from Ginobili to cut the lead to 76-68 entering the fourth quarter. Houston led by nine after the first quarter and scored the first five points of the second quarter to extend its lead to 35-21. The Spurs had cut into the lead midway through the quarter and got within 41-36 with about five minutes left in the half after four quick points by Duncan. An alley-oop dunk by Duncan about three minutes later cut Houstons lead to 48-40 late in the second quarter. Harden got miffed at Ginobilis physical defence after that and put his left shoulder into him and knocked him to the ground as he drove down the court. That play was initially ruled a flagrant foul on Harden, causing him to yell and curse at the officials as Patrick Beverley held him back. The play was reviewed and knocked down to a personal foul, but Harden received a technical for his behaviour after the call. Ginobili made the free throw and Boris Diaws hook shot got San Antonio within five, but Howard reverse layup left the Rockets ahead 50-43 at halftime. NOTES: Duncan received a technical in the first quarter when he knocked Beverley down after the guard was called for a foul on Duncan. ... Howard got a technical midway through the third quarter when he seemingly inadvertently slapped Ginobili in the face at the end of a play. ... San Antonios Matt Bonner missed the game because of food poisoning. ... Francisco Garcia (sore back) and Parsons (sore wrist and hip) returned after missing the last game with injuries. Nike Air Max 270 Just Do It White . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Air Max 270 Wholesale .Y. -- That hangover from the Big East tournament is gone for Villanova. http://www.max270cheap.com/air-max-270-womens-sale.html . -- New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft wanted to keep Logan Mankins with the team for a long time. Air Max 270 Just Do It White . The 22-year-old Kreider was injured Friday night in New Yorks win at Columbus, but played in the next two games -- including Monday nights win over Phoenix. But the left winger, who has 17 goals and 37 points this season, was limited to about 10 minutes of ice time in each of the previous games. Air Max 270 Just Do It Black . Its Wu-Tang and Outkast in the final. Now, we all know youve played the role of Andre 3000 in the past, does that mean Outkast is getting your vote?AJ: You know it, you know it.Every night of the Stanley Cup playoffs, TSN hockey analyst and former NHL goaltender Jamie McLennan breaks down each goalies performance. Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Ray Emery, Philadelphia (4): He had an outstanding game, as he tracked the puck well and was in great position for most saves on Derek Stepan, St. Louis and Rick Nash in the second to keep it at 3-2. He was also very impressive with his stop on Mats Zuccarello in the third. Emery was the difference in this game for Philly. Henrik Lundqvist, NY Rangers (3): King Henrik had a solid game, with big saves on Jakub Voracek in the third on a breakaway and Wayne Simmonds on the back door. He gave them a chance to stay in it and his paddle down move is his strength, but his angling of the rebound cost him one on the Schenn goal. Tuukka Rask, Boston (4): Rask was locked in all game long, aggressive like he was on Brendan Smith in the third. He had no chance on the Luke Glendening goal as it was a deflection, but was strong with his rebounds through 60 minutes. He had a great response game. Jimmy Howard, Detroit (2): Goal No. 1 was a bad bounce off Smith, faced a ton of traffic omn Sunday and the Bruins game plan was to get in front of him all night. Goals No. 2 aand No.dddddddddddd. 4 saw him battle traffic and scrambles. Carey Price, Montreal (4): Price continued to make timely saves for the Habs. He didnt get much work early on, but his huge blocker save in the second was money. Anders Lindback, Tampa Bay (4): He was the only reason it wasnt an ugly score, making big stops on Rene Bourque, Max Pacioretty, Brandon Prust and the list goes on. It was a very lopsided game that was closer on the scoreboard than the actual game and Lindback has a nice bounce back from a soft performance in his last game. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles (2): Quick madee big saves on Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, Tommy Wingels and Tomas Hertl in the first period, but was eaten alive by the speed attack of the Sharks that targeted his blocker side (five out of seven goals beat him high blocker). He didnt get a ton of help for sure from his blueliners, who were atrocious, and he faced more than 10 of what I call 10 bell chances, capped off by a Wingels breakaway with 40 seconds left. Antti Niemi, San Jose (4): Niemi was solid all night long. He was beat on play with traffic in front and a redirection and did not get a ton of quality chances against, but he did his job to be solid in net as the Sharks put up a touchdown in goal support. ' ' 'e the nine-point gap to fourth-place West Ham.There has been a lot of criticism of us, Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel said, and I hope it will change and be better in the second half of the season. ' ' '