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 Jake Faria Brewers Jersey . The league announced Thursday that Tom Higgins is leaving that post effective immediately. Cecil Cooper Brewers Jersey . -- Jim Furyk was 10 shots worse and right where he wanted to be Saturday in the BMW Championship. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/1739y-jorda...ey-brewers.html. Just ask last seasons Supporters Shield winners, the New York Red Bulls, who were resoundingly defeated last weekend by a rampant Vancouver Whitecaps in a match which produced two contenders for MLS Goal of the Week from Sebastian Fernandez and Pedro Morales. Adrian Houser Brewers Jersey . "Opinion: Womens World Cup is the best Soccer of the year," Hanks tweeted to his 8.73 million followers on Friday. "Hey FIFA, they deserve real grass. Put in sod. Brandon Woodruff Brewers Jersey .ca. Kerry, I hope you address Ron MacLeans comment during the second intermission of Game 4 in Montreal-Tampa series. Basically, he suggested that the NHL should not have used a referee from Quebec, following the Game 3 disputed non-goal, because the referee could be biased towards Montreal.SARNIA, Ont. -- Nick Ritchie scored 46 seconds into overtime as the Peterborough Petes slipped past the host Sarnia Sting 2-1 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League play. Eric Cornel forced extra time when he tied the game for the Petes (28-28-5) at 17:57 of the third period. Nickolas Latta gave the Sting (16-39-7) a 1-0 lead 12:03 into the first. Jason Da Silva made 31 saves for Peterborough as Sarnias Taylor Dupuis turned away 38-of-40 shots in a losing cause. The Petes went 0 for 3 on the power play while the Sting failed to score on five chances with the man advantage. --- ICEDOGS 5 WOLVES 2 SUDBURY, Ont. -- Eric Ming had two goals and an assist as Niagara downed the Wolves. Graham Knott, Billy Jenkins and Blake Siebnaler also scored for the IceDogs (20-33-8), who used a four-goal third period to break the game open. Nicholas Baptiste and Connor Crisp scored for Sudbury (31-21-10). Brent Moran made 34 saves for Niagara as Franky Palazzese turned away 36-of-40 shots in defeat. --- FRONTENACS 5 BULLS 2 BELLEVILLE, Ont. -- Ryan Kujawinksi and Darcy Greenoway each had a pair of goals as Kingston toppled the Bulls. Sam Bennett also scored for the Frontenacs (34-22-4) and Henri Ikonen chipped in with two assists. Michael Cramarossa and David Tomasek supplied the scoring for Belleville (19-37-6). Kingstons Matt Mahalak made 45 saves for Kingston as Charlie Graham stopped 28-of-33 shots in a losing cause. --- WHALERS 5 SPITFIRES 0 PLYMOUTH, Mich. -- Francesco Vilardi had two goals and an assist and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 26 shots as the Whalers blanked Windsor. Matt Mistele scored once and set up two more for Plymouth (25-30-7) while Ryan Hartman and Brook Hiddink had the others. Ryan Foss and Eric Diodati were both a team-worst minus-3 for Windsor (36-23-3). Dalen Kuchmey started in net for the Spitfires and gave up four goals on 34 shots before being relieved by Brendan Johnston, who stopped 2-of-3 shots in 10 minutes of action.dddddddddddd --- GREYHOUNDS 2 RANGERS 1 SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. -- Blake Speers goal at 8:04 of the third period stood up as the winner as the Greyhounds slipped past Kitchener. Alex Gudbranson opened the scoring for Sault Ste. Marie (40-16-5) at 10:37 of the first period. Brent Pedersen got the Rangers (22-37-3) on the board with less than two minutes remaining in the third period. Brandon Halverson made 24 saves for the Greyhounds as Kitcheners Jordan DeKort turned away 19-of-21 shots in defeat. --- OTTERS 4 SPIRIT 4 SAGINAW, Ont. -- Michael Curtis scored twice and Oscar Dansk kicked out 32 shots as Erie doubled up the Spirit. Patrick Murphy and Brendan Gaunce also scored for the Otters (46-14-2) and Dylan Strome tacked on two assists. Jimmy Lodge scored once for Saginaw (30-27-5) and also set up Luke Cairns. Jake Paterson turned aside 29-of-33 shots for the Spirit, who lost for the first time in four outings. --- ATTACK 4 STEELHEADS 1 OWEN SOUND, Ont. -- Brandon Hope made 36 saves as the Attack downed Mississauga to end their three-game slide. Brett Hargrave, Kyle Hope, Kyle Platzer and Holden Cook supplied the scoring for Owen Sound (27-26-8). Andrew Goldberg scored for the Steelheads (23-35-4). Mississaugas Spencer Martin turned aside 31-of-34 shots in defeat. -- COLTS 7 67s 1 BARRIE, Ont. -- Andreas Anthanasiou scored three times and Zach Hall assisted on each of them as the Colts crushed Ottawa. Nick Pastorious, Tyson Fawcett, Matthew Kreis and Justin Scott also scored for Barrie (33-26-3) and Brendan Lemieux had two assists. Sam Studnicka scored the lone goal for the 67s (22-35-4). Mackenzie Blackwood made 30 saves for the Colts. Ottawas Philippe Trudeau allowed four goals on 18 shots before giving way to Liam Herbst, who stopped 22-of-25 shots in 34 minutes of relief. ' ' '