up and in the Four Nations in 05 and 10. It quickly

NEW ORLEANS -- Tyreke Evans sore right knee -- and long-term contract -- gave him every reason to sit out the final two games of a losing season with the Pelicans. Yet even as coaches and trainers encouraged him to rest, Evans was having none of it. Instead, he played some of his most relentless, productive and crowd-pleasing basketball of the season. He capped it off with 25 points and 10 assists on Wednesday night, and New Orleans closed out a difficult, injury riddled season with a 105-100 victory over the playoff-bound Houston Rockets. "I just want to have fun, man," Evans said. "It was my last game this year. ... I was hurt. I could have easily sat out, taken the back seat, but coach talked to us about finishing strong and thats what I wanted to do." Two nights earlier, Evans scored a career-high 41 points in a stunning victory over Oklahoma City. Against Houston, he enlivened the crowd with end-to-end drives, high razzle-dazzle dribbles and an array of midair contortions in order to get off shots in traffic near the basket. "He drove me crazy with some of his uh-oh plays, but these last two games, I hope he gets player of the week," coach Monty Williams said. "We needed these two games to go into the summer. He stepped up big-time and carried the team." The Rockets, who had already locked up the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, rested James Harden, Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin. Still, the game was competitive as a number of role players sought to make the most of extended action. Troy Daniels, a rookie guard out of VCU whod scored only 20 points in 31 minutes all season, hit 6 3s and finished with a career-high 22 points. "I was ready to get out there," Daniels said. "It shows the coach has a lot of faith in me. Obviously I have a lot of work to do and a lot of progress to make, but it was a good start for me to get my confidence up." Evans gave New Orleans the lead for good with a driving layup with 2:35 left, then sealed it with a powerful move in which he wedged his way between Jordan Hamilton and Josh Powell for a running, right-handed hook from the lane. "It wasnt just about, We aint making the playoffs; lets pack it up," said guard Anthony Morrow, nodding at Evans. "When a guy who signs a long-term deal still plays the last two games of the season the way he did, it says a lot about him." Austin Rivers added 18 points and Morrow 15 for the Pelicans, who shot 52.4 per cent. Neither team led by more than single digits. New Orleans had the largest lead at 90-81, but Houston responded with a late 11-4 run that included 3s by Hamilton and Daniels, then took a brief 100-99 lead when Hamilton stole the ball and converted a fast-break lay-in with 2:51 left. Regular Houston starters Terrence Jones, who had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Patrick Beverly, who had 14 points, also played as if it mattered. Hamilton hit four 3s on his way to 14 points and Donatas Motiejunas had 11 points and 10 rebounds. "We werent going to change in the standings, so we played a bunch of guys that we hadnt played before," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "Its time to get some guys comfortable." Dwight Howard was among a minority of players who looked like as if he was merely going through the motions. He was 1 of 5 shooting, including a missed 3 after which he allowed a smirk, and grabbed four rebounds while turning the ball over three times. But Howard had more important things to think about with the fourth-seeded Rockets, who won 54 games this season, starting a playoff series against Portland on Sunday. Notes: After missing the past two games with a left ankle injury, Pelicans guard Brian Roberts played 4 minutes, long enough to make three free throws. That got him to 125 made foul shots this season, qualifying him for the official NBA lead in free throw shooting percentage at 93.9 per cent. "To have that, thats something thats special and something Ill never forget," Roberts said. ... Pelicans rookie C Jeff Withey tied a career high with five blocks. ... The loss was Houstons first against the Pelicans in four meetings this season. Authentic Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys . Iwakuma pitched seven strong innings to stay unbeaten in road games since last July, leading the Seattle Mariners to a 5-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night. Wholesale Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys .“I always did my stuff ahead of the deadline. The best deal Ive ever done was the Darryl Sydor deal. We did that at the end of January in 04, and Syd was the missing piece. http://www.cheapchargers.us/ . The CFL will help tackle womens cancers by playing four special "CFL PINK" games this weekend. Stitched Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys . -- Golden State Warriors reserve centre Ognjen Kuzmic is expected to miss at least six weeks after undergoing surgery on his fractured right hand. Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys Outlet . -- Phil Mickelson came to the St.MANCHESTER, England -- Australia reclaimed the Rugby League World Cup from New Zealand in devastating style on Saturday, scoring five tries to cruise to a 34-2 victory in the most one-sided final in the competitions 59-year history. Billy Slater and Brett Morris both crossed twice and Cooper Cronk added the other try as the Kangaroos produced a near-flawless performance at Old Trafford to win the trophy for the 10th time in 14 editions. New Zealand forward Sonny Bill Williams was bidding to become the first player to win World Cups in both rugby codes but his subdued performance was summed up when his pass was intercepted in the lead-up to Australias final try, a length-of-the-field score finished off by Morris. The Australians finished without having conceded a try since their opening-day win over England five weeks ago. In their five matches since then, they shipped only four points in five matches, scoring 244. For Australias 30-year-olds Greg Inglis, Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston, who kicked all seven of his goals, it completes the resumes of three of the modern-day rugby league greats. And it goes a long way to making up for the 2008 final, when New Zealand stunned its fierce rival in Brisbane to claim the sports biggest prize for the first time. This was the heaviest victory in a final, eclipsing Australias 40-12 victory over the Kiwis in the same stadium in 2000. Australia hadnt been beaten in three years heading into the match but, crucially, New Zealand had defeated its great rival in three of the last four major finals they had met -- in that 2008 World Cup and in the Four Nations in 05 and 10. It quickly became apparent, though, that there would not be another upset here in a match played in front of 74,468 -- a record crowd for an international. Australia was sharper around the play-the-ball, made big yardage through the forwards and made the most of New Zealand winger Roger Tuisava-Shecks injury withdrawal in only the seventh minute to make a raaft of incisive attacks down its left channel.dddddddddddd Two of their tries came down that flank. A halftime scoreline of 16-2 didnt flatter the Kangaroos -- and their opponents walked off hands on hips, a punishing first 40 adding to the weariness after that epic semifinal victory over England last weekend. Thurston and Shaun Johnson kicked goals in the opening 16 minutes before Australias attack started making serious inroads and Thurstons perfectly judged kick was collected by the leaping Slater -- soaring way above Kieran Foran -- for the opening try in the 19th. Slater was passed fit only on Thursday after making a quicker-than-expected recovery from a knee injury and his try double -- and Australias victory -- will be particularly sweet for the fullback, whose error gifted Benji Marshall a crucial try in the 2008 final. Isaac Luke somehow held up Cronk over the line to deny the standoff a try in the 25th, but Cronk had the last laugh five minutes later when he collected Darius Boyds kick forward following another raid down the left to force himself over the line. Lukes slip, just as Cronk gathered the ball, proved decisive. Thurston converted again -- in the process surpassing countryman Mick Cronin to become the record international point-scorer -- and his penalty in the 36th gave the Australians a 14-point lead at the break. New Zealand really needed to score next to make a game of it but it took less than a minute after the break for Slater to virtually clinch the trophy. Again the Kiwis were exposed on their right, as Thurston set free Darius Boyd, who passed inside for Slater to race over. Morris was next to cross after finishing a great move by diving to ground Jarryd Haynes kick forward before crashing into the advertising hoardings behind the short in-goal area. The same duo combined for the crowning try in the 72nd, Hayne intercepting Williams hopeful miss-pass and sprinting 60 metres before offloading to Morris, who did the rest. 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