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NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Nets are so good at home now that even the Houston Rockets cant beat them. Jerseys From China . The Nets clinched a playoff berth by beating the Rockets at home for the first time in 11 years, getting 32 points from Joe Johnson in a 105-96 victory on Tuesday night. Shaun Livingston added 17 points for the Nets, who extended their home winning streak to 14 games, longest in their NBA history and tops in the league this season. They finished 18-12 overall against the Western Conference. "Weve just been playing and trying to protect home court. They came in here and we try to send them on their way with a loss, and thats for everybody," Livingston said. "It just happens to be weve been playing good basketball against the West." The Nets ended a 14-game skid against Houston with their first victory in the series since March 13, 2006. The Nets hadnt defeated the Rockets at home since March 31, 2003, when they were still playing in East Rutherford, N.J. The Nets also pulled within 1 1/2 games of Toronto and Chicago for the No. 3 seed in the East and home-court advantage in the first round, quite a change for a team that was so bad during its 10-21 start that Johnson had trouble envisioning where it is right now. "Honestly, I couldnt even see it," he said. "I kept saying to myself eventually this is going to turn around, things are going to turn for us. Eventually it did starting the new year. We were a different team, our mindset was different and the way we played was different." James Harden scored 26 points for Houston, which lost its second straight following a five-game winning streak. Still without Dwight Howard because of a sore left ankle, the Rockets shot just 38 per cent from the field. "We just missed some shots, missed some opportunities," Harden said of the Rockets, also without starters Patrick Beverley and Terrence Jones. "We let them get too comfortable early in the game. They got it going and it was tough." Harden was 16 of 16 from the free-throw line. Omer Asik had 12 points and a career-high 23 rebounds while starting for Howard, while Jeremy Lin and Chandler Parsons each added 16 points. The Nets held the NBAs second-highest scoring team 11 points below its average and improved to 30-12 overall since Jan. 1. They havent lost at Barclays Center in more than two months and make just a short trip Wednesday to visit the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. "We know these games, even if you say they dont mean more, they mean a lot more, I think, just because of the rivalry thats been formed," Nets guard Deron Williams said. Brooklyn had six players score in double figures in its third win in a row overall. It was once again without starting centre Kevin Garnett because of back spasms, as it was all March while going 12-4, as well as key reserves Andrei Kirilenko (sprained left ankle) and Marcus Thornton (back). The Nets shot 59 per cent in the first quarter, getting 11 points from Johnson in taking a 29-24 lead. Houston moved ahead for the first time midway through the second, but Brooklyn put together an 11-0 spurt late in the half and took a 54-51 edge into the break. The Nets opened their largest lead when Johnsons 3-pointer made it 78-67 with 4:03 left in the third, but the Rockets were back within one before Johnson nailed another 3 with 45 seconds remaining to send Brooklyn to the fourth with an 83-79 advantage. Brooklyn put it away midway through the fourth, re-opening an 11-point lead on a questionable goaltending call that gave a basket to rookie Jorge Gutierrez and earned Rockets coach Kevin McHale a technical foul for arguing. McHale was more frustrated with Houstons lack of ball movement. "I dont know how (long) you have to play with somebody to throw the ball to the open man," he said. "What, youve got to know him personally?" NOTES: McHale said Howard had received another shot in the ankle, saying there was mostly soft tissue inflammation that hopefully would calm down. The All-Star centre has missed five of the last seven games. ... Brooklyns Jason Kidd was the Eastern Conference coach of the month for March, joining Chicagos Tom Thibodeau as the only coaches to win two monthly awards in their rookie seasons. Kidd won for the first time for January. Cheap NFL Jerseys . In particular, Craig Anderson was singled out for not playing as well as he did during the 2012-13 campaign, when many suggested he was the best goalie in the league before he suffered an ankle injury partway through the lockout-shortened campaign. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . -- Cleanthony Early scored 19 points and Tekele Cotton added 14 as No.ORLANDO, Fla. -- During the Magics recent struggles one of the few constants has been the offence provided by Arron Afflalo. The veteran provided another reminder of why hes so indispensable for a young team trying to find itself. Afflalo scored 23 points to lead five Orlando players in double-figures and the Magic snapped a three-game losing streak with a 109-92 win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night. Orlando led the Pistons by as many as 22 points and cruised in the fourth quarter. Afflalo said the victory was one of the most complete efforts the Magic have posted in recent memory. "Its good to get a win at home for once," said Afflalo, who has scored at least 20 points in five straight outings. "I dont think weve won here this month. It was pretty impressive defensively. I thought the bigs did a great job trying to fight their bigs all night rebounding. I thought we shared the ball throughout the game, made the right play. "When we play like that I think were pretty good." The Magics leading scorer this season, Afflalo played eight minutes of the third quarter after lightly turning his left ankle. But after coming out of the game briefly, he was able to finish the period -- scoring six points -- before resting in the fourth. "The ankle, its one of those things where if you can fight through it, you go ahead and play," he said. The victory halted a five-game home losing streak for the Magic, who hadnt won at the Amway Center since the day before Thanksgiving. Nik Vucevic added 20 points and 11 rebounds, and rookie Victor Oladipo finished with 16 points and a career-high 11 assists. Magic coach Jacque Vaughn thought Fridays effort was sparked by what he called a surprisingly "intense" practice for this time of year. "That has to be our signature -- we have to come to work," he said. "I always tell them I dont know what results thats going to lead to wins and losses-wise, but you can look yourself in the mirror and appreciate what you do for a living, and your teammates appreciate you when you come to work." Brandon Jennings had 21 points and Will Bynum added 18 for the Pistons, who had a streak of three consecutive road victories ended. Cheap Soccer Jerseys. "From the start of the game, we just couldnt get anything going. We got a couple stops in the third quarter, but we couldnt score, and it just kept going downhill from there," Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. "We couldnt get anything going offensively, they pushed the ball down our throat defensively, and then we didnt make any shots." The Pistons, who claimed eight of their 14 wins on the road, never found a flow on offence. They shot 41 per cent for the game, and were outscored in the paint 58-48. "We had no sense of urgency and we didnt muster energy at all tonight," Jennings said. "Its got to be a collective unit to try to get it back together, but we didnt have it tonight." In some of their recent losses Orlando had started fast, only to fall apart late in the games. The Magic jumped out to another early lead, but this time were able to sustain it with a variety of scoring bursts that kept the Pistons playing catch up for most of the night. Orlando hovered over 50 per cent shooting throughout and carried a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Magic carved out their early advantage shooting 56 per cent in the opening 24 minutes to take a 55-48 lead into halftime. Glen Davis had eight points in less than five minutes and then yielded to Afflalo, who finished the half with 12 points. Oladipo and Tobias Harris each added 10 points. Afflalo said theres no secret to what it will take for the Magic to have another "good night" like Friday. "Just get after it, man. Theres no mystery," he said. "We know what we need to do -- same focus, same effort. It starts with our preparation in shootaround, our intensity, attention to detail. And keeping our foot on the gas pedal." NOTES: The Magic improved to 5-6 when they score 100 or more points. ... Pistons G Chauncey Billups opted to continue his recent program of resting his tendinitis-affected knee on the first game of back-to-backs. Cheeks said Billups is expected to play when Detroit visits Washington on Saturday. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
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