HOUSTON – James Harden had 40 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for his second straight triple-double, and the Houston Rockets outlasted the Charlotte Hornets 121-114 on Tuesday night for their ninth straight win.
The Rockets missed 10 straight shots and let an 18-point lead evaporate before Coach Mike D’Antoni called a timeout with 2:26 left. Ryan Anderson made Houston’s first shot in more than four minutes with a 3-pointer out of the timeout, and after a block on the other end, Harden’s layup put Houston up 115-111 with just over a minute to play.
Kemba Walker cut the deficit to one with a 3-pointer, but another layup by Harden made it 117-114 with 28.6 seconds left. Charlotte missed three 3-pointers in the final seconds.
Walker had 25 points for the Hornets, who dropped their third straight.
Marcin Gortat had 10 points and 12 rebounds for Washington (19-18). He also set the screen that freed up Wall for his jumper to seal a 10th straight home victory.
Paul Millsap added 14 points for Atlanta, which led the entire way and has won eight of its last nine road games. Kris Humphries had 13, Malcolm Delaney scored 12 and Thabo Sefolosha finished with 10.
Kawhi Leonard had 30 points for San Antonio, which had its nine-game home winning streak snapped.
Rose was fined for missing the 110-96 loss to New Orleans on Monday and said he was expected to be in uniform Wednesday night at Philadelphia.
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© Source: http://www.pressherald.com/2017/01/10/nba-roundup-harden-scores-40-as-rockets-win/
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SALT LAKE CITY – The Jazz injury report on Tuesday was as blank as an executioner’s stare. Under a section called “Roster Notes” it said “None.” It has been that way for three games, and coach Quin Snyder must be wondering if this is too good to be true.
Depth is a major plus in an 82-game season. But when everyone is healthy, can there be too many cooks in the kitchen?
“It’s different,” Snyder said of his fully-stocked roster. “That’s for sure.”
Still, the timing was terrific. How better to face the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers than to bring the entire cast and crew?
Turned out it was more than enough.
The Jazz looked a lot like the team they hope to be during their 100-92 win. They worked all the angles. It wasn’t a perfect night, but good enough to allow breathing room. Rudy Gobert made a flip shot and several jailbreak dunks. Utah led by 15 at the half, making Cleveland look every bit the Mistake by the (Great Salt) Lake. But the second half started and the Cavs went on a 19-2 run, cutting the deficit to one. LeBron James made a downright felonious dunk of his own. His 3-pointer in the mid-third quarter put Cleveland up by two.
The hunt was on.
But the fourth quarter was largely an even affair. Afterward, the box score told the story: Six Jazz players scored in double figures. The defense limited Cleveland to 37 percent shooting. Utah had seven more assists and four more rebounds and better 3-point shooting.
Thus at the midway point in the season, and now that the Jazz are healthy, the big question is whether they will be content to make the playoffs, or go for something bigger. Tuesday said something about their plan. They’re alive and, at least for the moment, thriving despite an injury-laden first half of the year.
“I think we expected it,” said Gordon Hayward, who had 28 points. “I think going into it we had high expectations for ourselves. There’s a long way to go… so it’s important not to get too high on the highs, but not too low on the lows.”
But there are even wider reaching ramifications than making the playoffs. Hayward can become a free agent next summer. If he thinks the Jazz have maxed their potential, he could be gone like the last slice of pizza. Although contract incentives favor him staying in Utah, he is approaching his best years. Kevin Durant didn’t wait when the chance came to join a title contender.
In some ways, the Jazz are looking great. They are tied for the eighth-best record in the league and are tied for fifth in the conference standings, two games behind the Clippers. They lead the Northwest Division.
At the same time, through the injury-marred first half of the season, they’ve consistently gone off the rails against top competition. Utah is 6-12 against teams with.500 or better records.
“I feel from an injury standpoint, we’d be unrealistic to think we could be in a lot better place,” Snyder said. “There are always games you think we could have got this one or that one, or play better here, play better there, but hopefully over the next month we can start making some real progress.”
It sure looked like progress on Tuesday.
If the Jazz were to defeat Cleveland, home was a good place to start. The Cavs are in the middle of a six-game road trip. As good as the Jazz feel about improved health, they no longer have a built-in excuse. In some ways, the 100 player-games missed this year worked to Utah’s advantage. Fans and media have been patient. Opponents overlooked them. Injured players got some rest.
The season reaches the halfway point on Friday against Detroit. They’re solidly positioned to make the playoffs — their foremost (and most realistic) goal. On the downside, until Tuesday they didn’t do a lot against top-level competition.
Their reputation has been that they’re tough to beat, but not elite (say it in rhyme).
If they are to impress Hayward enough not to consider other opportunities, the Jazz need to convince him this is the place. That’s a shopworn phrase in Utah. But at the moment, it looked a lot like he was buying it all.

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As the soccer world digests FIFA’s decision to expand the World Cup, a look at the some of the benefits and pitfalls of a 48-team tournament in 2026:
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PROS
— With 16 more teams joining the World Cup party, feel-good stories should keep flowing in soccer. Just look at Costa Rica’s run to the 2014 World Cup quarterfinals and Wales reaching the European Championship semifinals in 2016. FIFA President Gianni Infantino believes this generates „football fever“ far beyond the host nation(s).
— With 16 additional games, there’s more soccer for fans to watch in stadiums and on television, generating additional cash for FIFA. For broadcasters, there are 24 extra broadcast slots, not just 16, because there will no longer be final rounds of group games kicking off simultaneously.
— FIFA estimates its commercial income will climb 20 percent, and raise profits by $640 million compared to the equivalent rates for the $5.5 billion 2018 World Cup. This would help guarantee the $5 million grants from each World Cup for each of the 211 FIFA member federations, and create extra for development projects.
— The 80 games can be squeezed into 32 days, the current length of the 32-team World Cup, according to FIFA. The individual players‘ workload won’t increase as the four semifinal teams will still play a maximum of seven matches.
—
CONS
— There will be no rest day for players or fans until the quarterfinals. And there’s a grueling rate of four games per day — up from the current three — for each of the first 16 days, including a new round of 32.
— There could be fewer top quality matches. FIFA acknowledged that higher-ranked teams will meet less often in the 48-game group stage, leading to a tournament of lower „absolute quality“ than the popular 32-team format used since 1998.
— A group stage allowing too many teams to advance reduces the drama. The 16 three-team groups would be tenser if only the group winner advances. Two will go through, creating a new round of 32 where the excitement should ramp up.
— With more teams making it to the World Cup, qualifying could be devalued, particularly in the Americas. There will be less uncertainty about whether the big teams in CONMEBOL and CONCACAF could miss out on the World Cup, so matches will be less captivating for fans considering watching qualifiers on television or in stadiums.
— FIFA expects World Cup profits to rise $640 million but European clubs will want a bigger share of the increased revenues. Currently $209 million per tournament is distributed under a European Club Association deal with FIFA.

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