streak to the Heat with a 98-90 victory last Jan.

NEW YORK -- They were bad enough to allow 18 straight points yet still good enough to win.Thats all that matters to the New York Knicks, who ended up on the right side of the scoreboard and found beauty in an ugly game.Its a line drive in the score book, right? coach Jeff Hornacek said.Derrick Rose and Carmelo Anthony each scored 20 points and the Knicks held off the Sacramento Kings 106-98 on Sunday night for their eighth win in 11 games.The Knicks took a 21-point lead in the first half, surrendered an 18-0 run in the third quarter but outplayed the Kings down the stretch to win their third straight overall and improve to 9-3 at home.The main objective and the goal is just to get wins. I dont think nobody cares about stats or anything like that, guard Brandon Jennings said. As long as we win were happy, but weve got to getter. I mean we havent blew anybody out yet, so hopefully we can get a blowout game where other guys can play.Jennings added 19 points and Kristaps Porzingis finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds.DeMarcus Cousins had 36 points and 12 rebounds for the Kings, but shot just 9 for 30 and tired late while playing the entire second half.Coach tried to take me out at the end of the third with like a minute left. I begged him could I stay in, Cousins said. I thought he was going to take me out at the beginning of the fourth but he stayed with me. Just tried to stay aggressive and keep pushing. It was a tough one tonight, but I like our teams effort. I liked that we kept fighting.The Knicks used an 18-4 run to expand a seven-point lead to 48-27 midway through the second quarter and had a 19-point cushion in the third before suddenly sending the Kings to the foul line too much and not scoring at all, as Sacramentos 18-0 run cut it to 72-71 late in the period.Leading by two with just under five minutes left, the Knicks got a 3-pointer by Anthony to start a 7-2 spurt that finally put it away.Sacramento dropped its third straight on its road trip that was shortened to five games after a game in Philadelphia was postponed because of unsafe court conditions.TIP-INSKings: The Kings intentionally fouled Joakim Noah away from the ball twice down the stretch and it worked -- defensively, at least -- as he missed all four free throws. But Sacramento couldnt follow up either time with a basket. ... Sacramento had its four-game winning streak against New York snapped.Knicks: Noah returned after missing two games with a sprained left ankle, but fellow starter Courtney Lee missed his second straight with the same injury. Hornacek said the guard was feeling pretty good but still having trouble moving side to side. ... Anthony left in the first quarter and went to the locker room area for treatment of a cut lower lip.ROUGH NIGHTSAmong the struggling Kings were Kosta Koufos (1 for 7), Matt Barnes (1 for 11) and Arron Afflalo, who went 1 for 4 in his return to New York after playing for the Knicks last season. The Kings shot 32 percent.SEE YOU SOONWhen the Kings finally get home from their road trip, the first team to visit Friday is the Knicks, a team Sacramento coach Dave Joerger believes is on the rise.I think its an exciting time for them, he said. Im not really excited about playing them twice in eight days but I think they look good.UP NEXTKings: Visit Dallas on Wednesday night to end their road trip.Knicks: Visit Miami on Tuesday night. The Knicks snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Heat with a 98-90 victory last Jan. 6 in their last trip to South Florida. Authentic Custom Patriots Jersey . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. Wholesale Custom Patriots Shirts . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. http://www.custompatriotsjersey.com/ . Their 38th instalment is arguably their biggest fight card to date, including three-title fights and a main event which was selected by the fans. The promotion boasts 14-straight years of business and is operated by MFC president Mark Pavelich, who is often overlooked in this country for the foundation hes established for MMA in Canada. Custom Patriots Jerseys . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. Custom Patriots T-shirts .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. HOUSTON -- Coach Tom Herman and No. 6 Houston insist they wont be looking past Lamar despite the quick turnaround theyll face with their American Athletic Conference opener against Cincinnati looming next Thursday.We knew this short week was coming, Herman said. Our coaches have looked at the preliminary scouting report on Cincinnati, but we will spend zero practice time and game planning time on anyone other than Lamar.The Cougars will have to guard against a letdown against the FCS Cardinals a week after an emotional 33-23 win over then-No. 3 Oklahoma in the season opener.It was the highest-ranked team Houston had beaten since a 29-15 win over Texas, which was also ranked third, on Nov. 10, 1984. The victory moved Houston up nine spots in the poll to its highest ranking since it was No. 3 in 1990.Its a testament to, no matter the physical mismatches that may exist on a football field, if you play really hard and you have a purpose about you and that purpose is the love of your teammates and coaches, then you will be able to do things that a lot of people think might not be possible, Herman said.Though they know better than to take Lamar, which is coming off a 38-14 loss to Coastal Carolina in its opener. Despite the big win, Herman has a long list of things his team can do better.We cant have the kind of busts that we had in the secondary, Herman said. We have to be able to run the ball. When you have a 16-point lead late in the fourth quarter you have to get a few first downs and keep your defense off the field. We were at the 14-minute mark about to go up 40-17 against the No. 3 team in the country, and we fumbled the ball in the end zone and put our defense out on the field. That is obviously very unacceptable.Some things to know about Houstons game against Lamar:WARDS SHOULDERHouston quarterback Greg Ward injured his right shoulder against Oklahoma, and could sit out on Saturday. Ward had an MRI on Monday which Herman said revealed no structural damage. Ward threw for 321 yards and two toucchdowns against Sooners.ddddddddddddIts feeling all right, Ward said. Its getting better each and every day.Ward said he was injured against the Sooners when a guy fell on me and jerked it the wrong way. But he remained in the game after hurting it.KICKOFF RETURN WOESHerman was not pleased with his teams performance on kickoff returns after neither of Houstons first two on Saturday made it to the 15-yard line.We stink on kickoff return, he said. That was a point of emphasis going into the season, so we really need to evaluate what were doing and who were putting on that team.WILSON WOWSBrandon Wilson had a great game in Houstons opener, finishing with a career-high 10 tackles, including one for a loss. But it was his work on special teams that really wowed as the senior cornerback took a short 54-yard field goal attempt back 100 yards for a touchdown to give Houston 26-17 lead with about nine minutes remaining in the third quarter.Pound for pound, if not the, then (he is) one of the strongest guys on our team, Herman said. He runs really, really hard. Hes fast so when he is in the open field, he can run away from people and run through some angles, but hes also really good at running in traffic with some strength and power behind him to bounce off some arm tackles.DRAKE SHOWS LOVEDrake headlined a concert in Houston at the Toyota Center on Saturday night just hours after the Cougars picked up their win over Oklahoma The rapper took the stage in a Houston jersey with the No. 1 on it. Herman was excited about the gesture and tweeted a couple of pictures of Drake in the jersey with the message: Thanks again to Drake for reppin the Coogs last night.While the jersey had Wards number on it, the quarterback brushed off the notion that it was his jersey because it didnt have his name on the back.He wasnt wearing my jersey, Ward said. He was wearing our jersey, a Houston jersey. ' ' '