HOUSTON - Rockets coach Kevin McHale lamented Houstons lack of effort in a lopsided loss to Golden State on Saturday.There was no such problem Monday.James Harden scored a season-high 45 points, including 18 in the third quarter, and the Rockets led from start to finish in a 110-98 win over the Indiana Pacers.I think the way we came out, thats the way we should come out every single game, Harden said. We focused on defence and offensively making it easy for each other. They didnt gain any ground on us because we kept being consistent with what we did.It was the 18th 30-point game and fourth with 40 this season for Harden, the NBAs leading scorer. He bounced back after scoring just 11 in the 131-106 loss to Golden State. He had a career-best 33 points after halftime.Houston led by 10 at the break and used a 33-point third quarter, thanks in large part to four 3-pointers from Harden, to push the lead to 20 entering the fourth.Hes having a special year, McHale said. A couple of those shots he made, theres nothing a defender can do.Pacers coach Frank Vogel raved about Harden, who is averaging 27.1 points per game.Hes having ... an MVP-type season, Vogel said. He has to be in that conversation and was just way too much for us tonight.The Pacers outscored Houston 30-21 in the final period, and a 5-0 run got them within eight with 2 1/2 minutes left. But Harden scored seven points after that to secure the victory.C.J. Miles had 23 points to lead the Pacers, who have lost five straight.Harden finished one point shy of his career high. Dwight Howard had 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Rockets.Corey Brewers jump shot to start the fourth quarter stretched Houstons lead to 91-68. Indiana answered with a 13-4 run to cut the deficit to 95-81 with 8 minutes left.Roy Hibbert cut Houstons lead to nine with a dunk midway through the third quarter before a 19-4 run by the Rockets pushed it to 86-62 with 2 minutes left in the period. Harden was unstoppable during that stretch, hitting three 3-pointers in just more than a minute late in the run. The Pacers missed five shots and turned the ball over twice as Houston padded the lead.Harden made four of six 3-pointers in the third quarter and almost had a fifth one. He stepped in front of a bad pass by Luis Scola with a second remaining and launched a shot from well beyond the 3-point line that swished through the net. But officials ruled that he didnt get it off in time.Indiana had cut the lead to six early in the second quarter when Brewer outscored the Pacers 6-2 over the next minute and a half to make it 35-25.The Pacers were down by 12 later in the quarter when they used a 13-2 spurt, with six points from Donald Sloan, to get to 41-40.Sloan had back-to-back turnovers after that to help the Rockets start a 14-5 run that left them up 55-45 at halftime. Jason Terry had seven points to power that surge.The Rockets led 11-2 early after making three 3-pointers in the first 3 minutes. Patrick Beverley made two in that span and Trevor Ariza hit the other one.The Pacers were down by 13 later in the quarter before using an 11-5 run to cut the lead to 22-15.Houston led 29-21 entering the second quarter.___TIP-INSPacers: G George Hill, out since Dec. 31 with a groin injury, is improving and could play soon. Vogel said Hill will be re-evaluated Tuesday. ... Ian Mahinmi had 14 rebounds.Rockets: Brewer scored 13 for his ninth double-digit game with the Rockets. ... Houston improved to 23-2 when leading at halftime.JONES IMPROVINGHouston forward Terrence Jones, who hasnt played since Nov. 3 because of nerve inflammation in his left leg, is improving and could return soon. McHale hasnt said when Jones will play again, but said recently that hes getting close. Jones is feeling good and is excited to be making progress.Its a blessing to be able to get up and down and finally move my leg a little bit, Jones said. Im able to jump and do a lot of things with the basketball that a couple of months ago I couldnt do at all.UP NEXTPacers: Visit Atlanta on Wednesday.Rockets: Visit Golden State on Wednesday. Miles Sanders Jersey . Arsene Wenger reportedly wants to convert the player into an attacking force, much like he did with Robin Van Persie. Ron Jaworski Youth Jersey . Anor had not scored since getting his first two goals of the season vs. Philadelphia on March 22 but struck with laser precision from distance in the 56th and 75th minutes. Montreal (3-10-5) lost its third straight and Impact coach Frank Klopas said it literally was a case of his players not stepping up. https://www.eaglessportsgoods.com/Womens...nverted-Jersey/. Greece was on the wrong end of a 3-0 rout to Colombia in its first game of the tournament. They surrendered a goal in just the sixth minute of the contest, and despite some promising attacking play, failed to crawl back into the match. Japan, on the other hand, struck first in its match with Ivory Coast, with Keisuke Honda putting his side into the lead in the 16th minute. Tommy McDonald Eagles Jersey . Ghoulam has put pen to paper on a four and a half year deal, tying him to Napoli until 2018. The 22-year-old Algeria international, who played for France at Under 21 level, has made 87 league appearances in four seasons at Saint-Etienne. Ron Jaworski Eagles Jersey . But qualifying for her first Scotties Tournament of Hearts after years of falling short in tough Manitoba provincial championships is as good as consolation prizes get for the 29-year-old from Winnipegs Fort Rouge Curling Club.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Toronto Blue Jays will try to figure out the Kansas City Royals on Saturday when the two teams meet at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays hope to follow the lead of prospect Marcus Stroman, making the first start of his Major League career, pushing Drew Hutchison back to Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers. Stroman, a 23-year-old righty, struggled in five relief appearances with the Blue Jays earlier this month, giving up nine earned runs over 6 1/3 innings while opponents hit .419 against him. In seven starts at Triple-A Buffalo this year, Stroman has gone 2-4 with a 3.03 ERA. "We want to get Stroman up here to give him a look," Gibbons told his teams official website. "And the thinking was, well back Hutchison off a couple of days. (Mark) Buehrle will start Sunday, Hutchison on Tuesday in Detroit. Weve been trying to pick some spots, give Hutch a little breather. After his last start, I thought he looked a little bit tired. We thought it would be a perfect time to give him a couple of extra days." Hutchison gave up five earned runs over five innings in his last start on Monday versus Tampa Bay. Kansas City took the first two contests of this four-game set with an 8-6 win in extra innings on Thursday and a 6-1 victory on Friday night. Lorenzo Cain nearly single-handedly led the Royals to victory on Friday, going 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBBI.dddddddddddd Billy Butler also went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and Alex Gordon blasted his fourth home run of the season as well. "This is more of the offense that we envisioned coming out of spring training," Royals manager Ned Yost said. Jason Vargas earned his fifth win of the season as the starter, limiting the Blue Jays to just one run, while matching seven hits with as many strikeouts. "Vargas keeps you off-balance," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "If youre sitting on a pitch, you dont get it." Jose Bautista provided the only offense for the Blue Jays with his 14th home run of the season. J.A. Happ took the loss, laboring through 7 2/3 innings during which he gave up six runs on nine hits. Toronto has dropped back-to-back games after winning nine straight contests. Kansas City will turn to Aaron Brooks on Saturday. Brooks will be making his first MLB start, having just a single relief appearance to his name this season, his first in the majors. In his only other outing the 24-year-old let up six runs on seven hits over two innings during a 9-2 loss to Detroit on May 3. Brooks, who was drafted in the ninth round of the 2011 amateur draft out of Cal State San Bernardino, was 4-1 with a 3.12 ERA in eight games for Triple-A Omaha this season. The Royals have won three of the first five games between these teams this season. ' ' '