NEWS » o 21. ... Gordon has

NEW YORK -- When Larry Nance Jr. kept climbing until he had all but jumped over Brook Lopez for an electrifying dunk late in the third quarter, the Lakers looked ready to overcome any obstacles standing in their way.Then the Brooklyn Nets made sure that was about the final highlight for Los Angeles.Bojan Bogdanovic scored 23 points, Sean Kilpatrick had 22 and the Nets sent the Lakers to their eighth straight loss with a 107-97 victory Wednesday night.Nances dunk came near the end of the Lakers 33-point third period, but they managed just seven baskets in the fourth -- none over the final 6-plus minutes.Our offense kind of hit a wall, Nance said.Lopez added 20 points for the Nets, who played without Jeremy Lin again but avoided a third consecutive defeat. Trevor Booker grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds and helped key Brooklyns rare fourth-quarter defensive stand.I think if were going to take a step thats where we need to take a step, is defensively, coach Kenny Atkinson said. I was very pleased.Lou Williams scored 16 points for the Lakers, who have fallen from a .500 team early in Luke Waltons first season as coach to one that is 10-18. They shot 38.5 percent from the field and were dismal as well from 3-point range (22 percent) and the free throw line (61.8).As a group, as a team, weve got a lot to learn about winning and how hard it is, Walton said. Its frustrating, but its where we are at. Like I told our guys, were going to find a way out. When that is? Time will tell.The Lakers led by one midway through the fourth before consecutive follow shots by Luis Scola and Lopez put Brooklyn on top for good, and Lopez had back-to-back baskets later during an 11-2 run that gave the Nets a 102-94 advantage with 4:47 to play.Los Angeles kept misfiring and the Nets eventually increased the lead to double digits near the end.Nick Young scored 14 points but shot 5 of 15 for the Lakers, who had won the last three meetings. He dislocated his finger but said he was OK.It wasnt no real Kobe moment, he said. You know, it wasnt that (badly) dislocated. It will be all right.TIP-INSLakers: Young and DAngelo Russell both played their third game since an injury absence. Walton said a minutes restriction remained in place for Russell, who missed 12 games with a sore left knee, but no longer for Young, who was sidelined six games with a strained right calf. ... The Lakers lost for just the fourth time in the last 20 meetings.Nets: Bogdanovic had his sixth 20-point game of the season but first at home. ... The Lakers 13 second-quarter points were the fewest the Nets have allowed in any period this season.LINS LOSSLin had just returned from a 17-game absence with a strained left hamstring to play in the Nets loss at Houston on Monday. Atkinson said the point guards back tightened up Wednesday morning and Lin was ruled out shortly before the game.WALTONS WORDSWalton was fined $15,000 by the NBA for verbally abusing a game official and not leaving the court in a timely manner after an ejection for arguing what he thought should have been a foul in a loss to Sacramento. But apparently, he wont change his fighting ways when he deems it necessary. Our guys arent getting treated right, then Im going to stand up for them, Walton said.UP NEXTLakers: Visit Philadelphia on Friday for the third stop on their seven-game trip.Nets: Visit Orlando on Friday. The Magic have won the last four meetings. Originals Superstar NZ . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Adidas Neo NZ . Carey Price didnt, but he still came out on top against one of his rivals for the No. 1 job at the Sochi Games. The Anahim Lake, B.C., native was stellar in making 39 saves in his home province and Lars Eller got credit for a bizarre short-handed winner as the Canadiens defeated the Canucks 4-1. http://www.nmdshoesnz.com/adidas-falcon-cheap-nz.html . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Originals Stan Smith NZ . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Cheap Adidas Shoes NZ . Here are his mid-season NBA awards. MVP: (KEVIN DURANT-Thunder) - Has been sensational this season and more importantly, the most consistent player in the league. Considering that his team has been without star guard Russell Westbrook and with the free agent departure of sharpshooter Kevin Martin, hes had to carry the majority of the load to not only keep his team afloat but more importantly, at an elite level. HOUSTON -- The Houston Rockets were determined to make up for losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in their season opener. It was clear from the beginning Wednesday night that things would be different this time around.Eric Gordon made a career-high eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points to help the Rockets cruise to a 134-95 victory.James Harden added 25 points in three quarters. The Rockets scored a season high and extended their winning streak to a season-best four games.They have a lot of good road wins and for us that first game we played this season we lost so we wanted a get-back game, Harden said.The Rockets were up by 12 in the third quarter, then had a 22-6 run to make it 96-68 and put the game out of reach with about 3 minutes left in the quarter. Houston made four 3-pointers and got a nifty one-handed dunk from Clint Capela in that run to pad the lead.Gordon already had four 3-pointers 7 minutes into the first quarter after making each of his first four attempts. It was his seventh straight game with at least four 3-pointers, which is a franchise record.Im just settling in on my role and my role is definitely to bring a different energy and scoring, playmaking with the second unit, he said. Im settling in and its getting better and better. Teammates look for me and its just up to me to knock down shots.Houston has its longest winning streak since taking five straight in January.Lou Williams led the Lakers with 24 points. They have lost four in a row, their longest skid of the season.We just didnt play well, he said. It was just one of those nights where we didnt respond to anything that was going on.The Rockets led by 18 after a layup by Gordon to start the second quarter. It was the only shot he made that wasnt a 3-pointer. The Lakers got going after that, using a 17-6 run to cut the lead to 51-44 about five minutes before halftime. Brandon Ingram made two 3-pointers in that stretch and Jordan Clarkson capped the run withh a 3.ddddddddddddHouston got back on track after that and had pushed the lead to 67-52 with 1.4 second left in the half. Lou Williams cut the deficit after that when he hit a 3-pointer from beyond half court at the buzzer.TIP-INSLakers: Coach Luke Walton said DAngelo Russell (sore left knee) is getting better but he isnt sure when hell return. ... Williams scored more than 20 points for the ninth time this season. ... Julius Randle added 21 points and 10 rebounds.Rockets: Scored a season-high 43 points in the first quarter. ... Made 15 3-pointers to extend their NBA record of games with at least 10 3s to 21. ... Gordon has scored at least 20 points in four of the last six games. ... The Rockets had 67 points at halftime and have scored at least 60 points in the first half in five of their last seven games. ... Harden had eight assists, six rebounds and four steals.SO CLOSEHoustons Patrick Beverley came three rebounds shy of his first career triple-double, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds and tying a career high with 12 assists. Coach Mike DAntoni said he kept him in a little longer than the other starters to give him a shot to get it.Harden joked about the 6-foot-1 Beverleys inability to get those last rebounds.I wanted him to get a triple-double so bad, Harden said. Every rebound he tried to get he couldnt get it because hes so small.NO EXCUSESWalton wouldnt make excuses for this lopsided loss despite the Lakers playing without Russell and Nick Young, who is also out with an injury.Obviously, we are missing key players and we are going to lose games, but if were just sitting around as a team saying were waiting for this guy or that, thats not the mindset you want ... thats not an acceptable excuse, he said.UP NEXTLakers: Host Phoenix on Friday nightRockets: Visit Oklahoma City on Friday night. ' ' '