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HOUSTON - James Harden wouldnt admit he was thinking about last season in Houstons first game against Portland since the Trail Blazers eliminated the Rockets from the playoffs in the first round. China Shoes Black Friday .Dwight Howard was certain he was.I know its kind of like a weight off his back because of what happened in the playoffs against Portland, Howard said. And (Monday) he just destroyed them.Harden scored a season-high 44 points to help the Rockets cruise to a 110-95 victory and snap a two-game skid.Last year, nah. What happened the last two games, Harden said when asked if he had a chip on his shoulder from the early playoff exit. Two losses at home is unacceptable, so we wanted to come out here and not make it a third.The Trail Blazers were without leading scorer and rebounder LaMarcus Aldridge, who missed the game with an upper-respiratory illness, and had their five-game winning streak snapped.Defensively we didnt give much resistance in the first half and they took advantage of that, coach Terry Stotts said. Offensively we turned the ball over too much and really werent able to mount any kind of legitimate comeback.Harden had 31 in the first half to help the Rockets erase an early eight-point deficit and take a 20-point halftime lead. The Blazers didnt threaten after that and Harden went to the bench for good with about 4 minutes left and Houston up 107-86.It was Hardens NBA-leading third 40-point game this season, with all of them coming this month. Harden, who leads the NBA in scoring, has had 11 games with at least 30 points this season, which also leads the league.He played really well, coach Kevin McHale said. That was about as much juice and energy that weve played with in a long time.Damian Lillard led Portland with 18 points and CJ McCollum added 17.Harden came just two points shy of his career high, set against Oklahoma City last season. He also had seven assists and five steals, while Howard added 16 points and 13 rebounds.The Trail Blazers scored eight straight points, with five coming from Lillard, to cut the lead to 84-70 midway through the third quarter. But Houston used a 9-2 run to push it to 93-72 with 2 minutes left in the period.Jason Terry hit a 3-pointer to become the third player in NBA history to make 2,000 3-pointers and push Houstons lead to 96-76 entering the fourth quarter. Ray Allen and Reggie Miller are the other players to reach the plateau.The Rockets, who lead the league in 3-pointers, made 13 on Monday night.Wesley Matthews received a flagrant foul when he knocked Donatas Motiejunas to the ground when the two were fighting for a loose ball early in the third quarter.A highlight for Harden came in the second quarter, when he drove into the lane and threw up an off-balance shot that swished through the net as he was fouled by Matthews. Harden high-fived several fans in courtside seats as Matthews jawed with officials to draw a technical foul.Harden made both free throws to leave Houston up 57-45. He had eight points in the quarter after that, including a layup at the buzzer with two defenders on him to make it 73-53 at halftime.TIP-INS:Trail Blazers: Aldridge didnt come to the arena, instead staying at the team hotel to rest. Stotts said before the game that he wasnt sure if Aldridge would be able to play on Tuesday night. ... Monday was the first time this season that Portland has allowed 10 or more 3-pointers in a game.Rockets: Terrence Jones (left leg nerve inflammation) remains out for Houston. ... Houstons 73 points were a season high a first half.NEW FACESCorey Brewer and Alexey Shved made their debuts for the Rockets after being acquired in a three-team trade on Friday. Brewer came to Houston from the Timberwolves and Shved was playing for the 76ers. Brewer had 12 points, five steals and four assists, and Shved had three points and a rebound.UP NEXTTrail Blazers: Visit Oklahoma City on Tuesday.Rockets: Visit Memphis on Friday. Discount Shoes Black Friday . You can catch all of the action LIVE on TSN2 at 6pm et/3pm pt. The Heat reached that mark Saturday night when they ruined the Philadelphia 76ers home opener. Shoes Black Friday Deals 2020 . Last year, Matt Kuchar closed with a 4-under 68 to beat Kevin Chappell by two strokes for his second win of the 2013 season and sixth of his career. https://www.cheapshoesblackfriday.com/ . Gorges is believed to have suffered the injury while blocking a shot with a hand during Montreals win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. The Canadiens added to their defensive depth this week by acquiring veteran Mike Weaver from the Florida Panthers. LOS ANGELES -- Nobody said much during the timeout after the Los Angeles Kings blew a four-goal lead in less than 13 minutes. The Kings already knew what was going wrong, and Mike Richards made sure they got the chance to fix it. Dwight King had his first career three-goal game, Richards scored the tiebreaking goal on a short-handed breakaway early in the third period, and the Kings pulled out a 7-4 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday night. Anze Kopitar ended his 26-game, regular-season goal drought, and King scored twice during a four-goal first period for the Kings, who appeared to be cruising toward an impressive victory before a few lapses erased all that hard work. Coach Darryl Sutters timeout provided a chance for the Kings to gather themselves, and they roared to their sixth win in eight games. "Seven goals -- thats the first time since Ive been here that we put up that big of a number," said King, who had never scored more than one goal in his first 90 NHL games. "We got back to how we play. With the timeout, you kind of refocus, go back to the basics, calm yourself down a bit and get back to playing the game." Jordan Nolan and Matt Frattin also scored for Los Angeles, Kopitar had three points, and Jonathan Quick made 24 saves. The back-and-forth game looked nothing like most matchups in a divisional rivalry usually dominated by defence and hard hitting. There were some big hits, but the goalies took most of the abuse. "Good thing they didnt kick a field goal on the last play of the game," Sutter said. Mike Smith stopped 11 shots in the first period before Thomas Greiss replaced him for the Coyotes. The German backup stopped 20 shots in just his third appearance of the season. The Kings responded to a home loss to Calgary three days earlier with a stellar start, but then had to hang on before King completed his hat trick on an empty-net goal with 21.1 seconds to play. "It was up and down, but thats the challenge for us, always has been," Kopitar said. "We always have good spurts, and tonight the first period was obviously a really good one, but we have to maintain that." Kopitar ended his goal drought just 42 seconds into the game, beating Smith with a quick shot from the slot during a power play. Kopitar has been the Kings leading scorer in each of the past six seasons, but he failed to score a goal in the final 16 games of last season before managing just three playoff goals during the defending Stanley Cup champions run to the Western Conference finals. Buy Shoes Black Friday. Martin Hanzal scored two goals and captain Shane Doan tied it with 17:10 to play for the Coyotes, who had earned a point in seven consecutive games. "We had the momentum after getting back into the game," Doan said. "Richards made a great play to give them the lead and the momentum back, and we didnt have anyone to do that back to them. As a team, weve got to learn to handle success so much better than we handle it at times." Jeff Halpern also scored in Phoenixs first regulation loss since Oct. 8. Nolan, a healthy scratch in the Kings last game, pushed the first-period lead to 3-0 before King redirected a long shot by Robyn Regehr for Los Angeles highest-scoring first period since Dec. 18, 2010. "I was worried about our energy before we came into the game," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. "The last couple of days, I dont know if it was physical or mental fatigue, but you could tell our group was dragging a little bit. We tried to give them a day off yesterday, but obviously we came out flat tonight." Phoenix awoke midway through the second period when Halpern easily tapped home a tumbling shot through traffic for his first goal of the season. Hanzal scored moments later, slyly banking a backhand off Quick from behind the goal line. Hanzal silenced Staples Center early in the third period when he tipped home Keith Yandles shot on a power play. Doan, who missed the Coyotes previous game, evened it 59 seconds later with a long shot through traffic. But Richards put the Kings back ahead 1:29 later, taking the puck away from Radim Vrbata at mid-ice to create a two-man breakaway. The veteran centre beat Greiss low to end his goal drought of 13 regular-season games. Frattin added his first goal with his new team later in the period. The forward was the main return from the Kings trade of goalie Jonathan Bernier to Toronto. NOTES: Phoenix lost D Rostislav Klesla to a lower-body injury early in the game. The team had no immediate update on his condition. ... Kopitar has 47 career points against Phoenix, his highest total against any opponent. ... Richards hadnt scored a short-handed goal since March 30, 2012. ' ' '