week that Brady was not present for the opening practice of

NEW YORK -- James Harden and the Houston Rockets spent plenty of energy trying to knock off the champs. They had more than enough left a night later.Harden had 30 points and 15 assists, and Houston routed the New York Knicks 118-99 on Wednesday night.Were a special group and were fairly new, Harden said, so the more were going to continue to build and do things and play the right way no matter who were playing, the better off well be.The NBAs leader coming into the day with 11.8 assists per game, Harden toyed with the Knicks defense, setting up teammates for lobs or open 3-pointers as the Rockets easily bounced back from a 128-120 loss in Cleveland on Tuesday.Eric Gordon added 21 points for Houston, which has won seven straight at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks havent defeated the Rockets at home since Jan. 26, 2009, so long ago that their coach was current Houston coach Mike DAntoni.Harden also grabbed six rebounds, a night after he had 41 points and 15 assists. And the Rockets got a boost from their bench, particularly Montrezl Harrell, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds.Those guys helped us keep going and then James is James, DAntoni said. Hes really good and I think he can play every night.Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points for the Knicks, who besides their poor defense also heard loud boos for their rebounding and turnovers in a dismal performance.If we dont start playing defense, were going to keep getting smacked like this, guard Derrick Rose said. It comes with effort. It comes with everybody being on the same page.The Knicks were also playing for the second straight night, but only they appeared to have tired legs. Houston quickly extended a 33-25 lead after one quarter into double digits and was ahead 68-51 at halftime.Gordon opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer to make it a 20-point game and Harden closed it with another 3 that sent the Rockets to the fourth quarter with a 100-78 lead.TIP-INSRockets: C Nene sat out to rest on the second night of the Rockets back-to-back. ... DAntoni went 121-167 with the Knicks from 2008 until resigning in March 2012.Knicks: New York has lost 21 of the last 23 meetings with Houston. ... Rose and Courtney Lee scored 16 points each.DEKKER HITS THE DECKSam Dekker was headed for what would have been a breakaway basket when he stumbled and fell near the free throw line, the ball bouncing off the court, then off his face and out of bounds. Dekker went to the court again moments later after Kyle OQuinn blocked his shot.HORNACEK IN HOUSTON?Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek, after being fired in Phoenix, interviewed for the Houston job last spring before the Rockets hired DAntoni. With Harden in place and believing Ryan Anderson would sign there, Hornacek was interested. Obviously the pieces theyve added have made them dynamic on the offensive end, Hornacek said. Theyre going to be hard to stop and so when you look around at jobs and they call you and want to talk, that was great.CHICAGO IS HIS KIND OF TOWNRose was hoping the World Series went to the Cubs, who had his son, 3-year-old Derrick Jr., throw out a first pitch earlier this season. On Friday, the Chicago native will be hoping to beat the Bulls in his first game against his former team. He expects a mixed reception from fans. I know Im going to get some boos here and there but its all part of the game, its all part of the sport, he said. Its not going to affect the way I play or how badly I want to win that game.UP NEXTRockets: Visit Atlanta on Saturday to continue five-game trip with visit to former Houston center Dwight Howard. The Hawks have won the last five meetings.Knicks: Visit Chicago on Friday in first trip back to the United Center for former Bulls All-Stars Rose and Joakim Noah. Nike Tn Womens Sale . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. Nike Vapormax Mens Australia . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. http://www.vapormaxaustraliashoes.com/air-vapormax-plus-australia.html .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. Air Vapormax 97 Sale . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Nike Vapormax Off White Australia . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (knee) and tight end Rob Gronkowski (back) were not present for the teams practice Wednesday, as both are still recovering from injuries.This marks the second straight week that Brady was not present for the opening practice of the week. He missed practices both Wednesday and Thursday last week before returning with limited participation Friday. He played all 73 snaps Sunday in a 22-17 win over the New York Jets.Its better than last Monday, so Im very happy about that, Brady said of his health during his weekly interview Monday on sports radio WEEI. ... Hopefully Ill be feeling a lot bbetter come Sunday.dddddddddddd.Said Brady later Monday to Westwood One Radio: I expect it to heal. Im a pretty fast healer. I hope I dont have to deal with it much longer.Meanwhile, Gronkowski left the game late in the first quarter after injuring his back. He had returned to action after missing the teams game the week before because of a chest injury.In addition to Brady and Gronkowski not practicing, wide receiver Julian Edelman also wasnt spotted at Wednesdays practice. Hes been managing a foot injury since Oct. 6. ' ' '