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HOUSTON -- Dwight Howard was late for the pregame shootaround. So he knew that playing on his 28th birthday, and against his former team, the onus was on him to both atone and deliver. Done and done. Howard had 20 points and 22 rebounds Sunday night to lead the Houston Rockets over the Orlando Magic 98-88. "I just wanted to get the win tonight," Howard said. "Im just happy our team came out tonight, settled down and played basketball." Howard became the first Rockets player since Ralph Sampson in 1985-86 to pull down 18 or more rebounds in three straight games. Despite the positive outcome, dont expect to see Howard showing up late to any more shootarounds anytime soon. "Bad example," he said. "I shouldnt have done it." James Harden scored 27 points and also had 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Rockets. Terrence Jones contributed 16 points and 13 rebounds. Jones scored 10 a busy third quarter when Houston pulled away for good, extending its lead to as many as 22 points. He also blocked five shots, stopping Victor Oladipo as time expired in the third quarter to preserve an 83-61 lead. Chandler Parsons, who missed two games because of a sore back, started for Houston and had 18 points. "Our starting four and five had 35 rebounds between them," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "James went and got eight rebounds, too. So that was big." Glenn Davis scored 18 in Orlandos fifth straight loss. Arron Afflalo finished with 16 points and Jameer Nelson added 15. "We just didnt play well," Davis said. "We cant make shots. Its not about the shots. Its about the defence. Everybody needs to be held accountable in making sure they do what they need to do, or its going to be a long season." Howard got off to a slow start offensively, but he amassed nine quick rebounds in the first quarter, thanks in part to the Magics 7-for-22 shooting. This was Howards first game against Orlando in a Rockets uniform, having faced his first former team last season while with the Los Angeles Lakers. Orlando made Howard the top pick of the 2004 NBA draft. He played for the Magic from 2005-2012, once led the team to the finals and remains Orlandos all-time leading scorer. The Magic shot just 27.7 per cent (13-for-47) from the field in the first half. But they benefited from at-times lacklustre rebounding the Rockets, which led to second-chance points that allowed them to loiter around. Orlando appeared poised to give the Rockets a tough test, scoring nine straight points to take a 9-2 lead. But the burst was brief. "We just came out sluggish and werent contesting shots, and we werent rebounding," Howard said. "We had to pick our energy level up, and thats what we did." The Rockets hurt the Magic from the 3-point line, making seven of 11 to erase that run by Orlando in the first quarter. Houston finished 10-for-33 from 3-point range against 8-for-29 for Orlando. The Magic cut Houstons lead to 28-25 with a burst of hustle to open the second quarter, capped by a 3 from ETwaun Moore. Thats as close as Orlando got the rest of the way. NOTES: The Magic missed C Nikola Vucevic (left ankle) for a third straight game. ... Rockets G Jeremy Lin (right knee) missed his sixth game but participated in pregame workouts. ... Houston tallied 10 blocks, its fourth double-digit game of the season. Cheap Air Max 95 Womens . This week, topics cover the World Series champion Red Sox, John Farrell and what to look forward to this off-season. Cheap Air Max 720 . But when it was all over they had wasted another lead, seen another pitcher flame out on the mound and lost their fourth straight at home. http://www.airmaxsneakersonsale.com/cheap-air-max-270.html . An offseason trade acquisition from Kansas City, Greinkes National League debut was delayed by a non-baseball injury in the spring, and he was 0-1 after dropping an 8-0 decision at Atlanta in his initial appearance with the Brewers on May 4. Cheap Air Max 200 . Hawkins severely sprained his left ankle while making a diving catch during training camp and went on injured reserve with a designation he could return midway through the season. He was back at practice Wednesday. Fake Air Max 270 .Y. -- Major League Soccer has agreed to new measures to protect gay players from discrimination and harassment as a result of meetings with New Yorks attorney general. SILVERSTONE, England -- Lewis Hamilton said all week he was uncomfortable in his car. When it mattered most at Silverstone, though, he delivered a blazing lap to take pole position for the British Grand Prix. He won his 28th career pole, one less than Juan Manuel Fangio, with a time of 1:29.607 on his final lap, besting Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, who moments earlier clocked the fastest time of 1:30:059. Three-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel was third just ahead of his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber. "Storming job, Lewis, storming job," the Mercedes team said over the radio as Hamilton crossed the line. Fans, many waving British flags and holding signs in support of the home drivers, were on their feet cheering in a great homecoming for the 2008 F1 champion who made his name at McLaren but angered many of his supporters by switching to Mercedes this season. Critics predicted Hamilton would fail and McLarens Jenson Button would fill his shoes. Instead, Hamilton has outperformed his countryman, earning three podiums compared to none for Button. "It feels incredible to be on pole, just like it did back in 2007," said Hamilton, who won the race here in 2008 on the way to the overall title. "My lap in Q3 was a lap for the fans out there around the circuit," Hamilton said. "I havent been feeling comfortable in the car all weekend, so I was really happy to find a good lap and this feels fantastic. The team has done a phenomenal job and its a great reward for the guys here at the track but also back at base, especially as our two factories are so close to the track. But we know that tomorrow is another day and our Sunday performance isnt quite as strong right now." Rosberg, who was fastest in practice and had been strong in recent weeks in winning Monaco and earning pole in Spain, said he relished the competition with former karting rival Hamilton. "Its a big battle we have. Usually its close, not today," Rosberg said. "Its a really big push for the team that we are pushing each other all the time. Its fantastic momentum we have at the moment." Vettel was full of praise for his rivals. "They are bloody quick in qualifying. They seem to be in a different world on Saturday afternoon," Vettel said. "They manage tires pretty well which allows them to get a good lap." The German believes he still has a good chance to win on Sunday -- noting that Mercedes struggles to transform its qualifying success into wins. Rosberg took pole in Bahrain but Vettel won the race. "Its a long racce," Vettel said.dddddddddddd "I was very happy with the lap I did at the end, it was very close with Mark also. We did what we could for the team and its always nice to position well in qualifying, especially around here -- qualifying is good fun and Im enjoying the high-speed corners. Well see how we get on with the tires tomorrow and with looking after them." With 12 races remaining, Vettel has a 36-point lead over Ferraris Fernando Alonso. Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen is another eight points back in third and Hamilton is fourth. The surprises of qualifying were Paul di Resta of Force India who finished a career-best fifth and Toro Rossos Daniel Ricciardo who starts sixth. But di Restas joy was short-lived. His car was found by the FIA to be underweight and he was excluded from qualifying. He will start at the back of the grid. Ricciardo moves up to 5th as a result. The strong showing by Ricciardo could help the Australian in his bid to replace countryman Webber at Red Bull. Webber is leaving F1 at the end of the season. The team said on Friday it will look at Raikkonen, Ricciardo and the other Toro Rosso driver, Jean-Eric Vergne, as a replacement. Vettel came from Toro Rosso, which is also owned by Red Bull. "Coming off the back of a bad couple of races, I expected to be strong here and I was more motivated than ever," Ricciardo said. "However, if Id been told I could be sixth this afternoon, I would have been surprised. We were very close to Di Resta in fifth, but we can be happy with this position." Raikkonen will start eighth and Alonso ninth, his worst place on the grid this year. "We can consider this the worst Saturday of the season so far, having never finished so far down," Alonso said. "But now we must react immediately to try and return to the form we showed at the start of the year. We definitely expected a lot more here, because this is a track that suits our cars characteristics better than others." Raikkonen also said his team has work to do. "Its not ideal, but it is what it is," Raikkonen said. "Well go into the race wanting to get a better result than we did in qualifying. Usually this is what happens for us and hopefully that is the case again tomorrow." It was also disappointing qualifying for Button, whose McLaren team has all but given up on challenging for the drivers championship this season. The 2009 champion just missed out on Q3 by 0.05 seconds and will start 10th while Ferraris Felipe Massa, who crashed in practice on Friday, settled for 11th. ' ' '