Harden, Howard help Rockets roll past Spurs

October 24, 2013 10:52 PMAP - Sports MB712アイアン

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Thu, Oct 24, 2013

Houston	109	Final
San Antonio	92

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- James Harden had 22 points and 11 assists, Dwight Howard added 15 points and 16 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets routed the San Antonio Spurs 109-92 on Thursday night.

Aron Baynes scored 16 points, and Danny Green and Marco Belinelli each added 12 points in San Antonio's preseason finale. Tim Duncan had six points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes, while Tony Parker had eight points and four assists in 20 minutes.

Omri Casspi and Chandler Parsons each had 16 points and Jeremy Lin added 11. Houston closes its preseason schedule Friday at Memphis before opening the season at home Wednesday against Charlotte.

Howard and Harden played all but the final minute of the third quarter, and the Rockets outscored the Spurs 37-25 in the period.

Boris Diaw and Belinelli started for Kawhi Leonard and Green. Leonard and Manu Ginobili both sat out the game to rest for San Antonio's season opener at home Wednesday against Memphis.

Bulls set no limits on Rose's playing time

By The Sports XchangeOctober 24, 2013 11:06 PMThe SportsXchange タイトリストMB712アイアン

When the NBA regular season starts next week, Derrick Rosewill be full-go.

Chicago Bulls vice president John Paxson said Thursday on The Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN Chicago 1000 that the team plans no restrictions on minutes or games played for the guard in his return from knee surgery.

"Look, Derrick wants to play. He's been out for an entire year," Paxson said. "He's showing no signs that would make us think along those lines. ... We're all confident that we're beyond that. He's got to push himself. Let's face it, he spent a lot of time and effort into rehabbing this knee. ... He's not coming to us to put any limitations on him.

"As an organization we don't want him playing 48 minutes a night -- that's not going to happen, of course -- but in that 35- to 38-minute range, that's what he was going to do anyway, and I don't see that changing."

Rose, who missed the entire 2012-13 season, is averaging 19.7 points during the preseason and 27.3 points in his past three games.

"We've turned the page," Paxson told the radio station. "Unless he would come up with something that would concern us, but we have no concerns right now.

"He's played six games. In reality, he is only averaging about 27 minutes a game in this preseason, and he has looked terrific. Right now, there is no reason to think that there will be any restrictions, and we're not anticipating that at all."

Rose has averaged 26.3 minutes during the preseason. The former NBA MVP played 35 minutes on Wednesday against Oklahoma City.

"He has been fearless," Paxson said. "The way he has attacked the basket, his ability preinjury to change speed in real tight spaces like he showed with some of those crossovers and sidesteps past defenders, those are things that he had prior to the injury, and he has obviously shown that and more here in the preseason. The fact that he feels the confidence in this knee that you can just see out there on the floor, that's a great sign for him."