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HOUSTON -- Kevin McHale preaches consistency. So far his young Rockets team hasnt heeded his words and is coming off two straight losses to the Grizzlies. McHale knows Houston, despite a 29-17 record, must play better. Coming up on Tuesday night are the Southwest Division-leading San Antonio Spurs. When asked how his team can be more consistent, McHale shared several ideas. "Weve got to be better against a lot of different styles of basketball," he said. "Weve got to know what our strengths and weaknesses are and play to our strengths. Weve got to be way more tied together and diligent about all the little things. We worry too much about all the big things. But weve got to do all the little things and that leads to big things." The Rockets have won both previous meetings with the Spurs this season. McHale doesnt expect that success to factor into Tuesdays game, especially with San Antonio coming off a tough loss to the Heat. "Its going to be a tough game," McHale said. "The first two games dont make any difference. Were a different team. Theyre a different team. Weve got to play really well. That team lost to Miami, theyre going to come in hungry." Dwight Howard is still upset about how Houston played against Memphis, but believes rough spots like this will help the Rockets in the long run. "These are growing pains," Howard said. "Losing those games and trying to learn from experience on how to play is good for our team. We hate to lose and we were all (ticked) off about the last two games, but it was some things that we learned and picked up from playing against a team like Memphis and well get better." The 28-year-old Howard knows that a team as young as the Rockets is going to have many ups and downs throughout the season. But he thinks the lessons they learn now will be the difference when they get to the playoffs. "We cant look at anything in a negative way," he said. "We have to stay positive and understand that everything comes with time. Weve still got to play hard and go out there and be aggressive but also understand that were a great team in progress. It doesnt happen overnight." James Harden, who leads the team in scoring with almost 24 points a game, has struggled offensively in the last two games, averaging just 13. He hasnt had any of those struggles against San Antonio since joining the Rockets before last season and has averaged 30 points a game against the Spurs. He isnt sure why hes played so well against the Spurs. "Im just happy to go out there and do my job," Harden said. "Whether its the Spurs or the Memphis Grizzlies or the Thunder or the Lakers or whoever, every game is important to me and I just try to go out there and do my best." Harden believes the Rockets have had trouble with consistency because of various injuries that have forced them to change their starting lineup almost every night. "Whatever guys are out there were trying to get it going," he said. "Its kind of hard to get a rhythm and kind of get a feel for where guys like to be at because every other game its a different lineup. So we just work with it." Along with Harden getting back on track, the Rockets are also focused on being aggressive inside and looking to score there first. The Rockets lead the NBA in points in the paint, but were outscored 104-62 in that area in the last two games. "We just shot long shot after long shot and never got the ball in the paint," McHale said. "When were getting in the paint, good things happen." Basketball Shoes Outlet . -- C.J. Cron hit an RBI single on the first pitch he saw in the major leagues, doubled his second time up and hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth inning to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night. Cheap Basketball Shoes Authentic .Stanton suffered fractures in his face and other injuries when he was hit by a pitch Sept. 11. The Marlins are confident hell fully recover and be ready for spring training, and they hope to reach a long-term agreement with him. http://www.wholesalebasketballshoes.com/ . Tony Parker had 33 points and nine assists and San Antonio never trailed in a resounding 116-92 victory over Portland, bullying the younger Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. Wholesale Nike Basketball Shoes . As each game passes (each has played close with the exception of last night) it becomes clearer just how evenly matched these two teams are and how one mistake, or one bad inning, is likely to sway the result. Cheap Chinese Basketball Shoes . In this weeks Leaf Report podcast, James Mirtle and Jonas Siegel debate whether Toronto can continue their shootout dominance and discuss what Dave Nonis game plan should be heading into the trade deadline.BOSTON -- The regular season wasnt much of a struggle for the Boston Bruins, and neither was their first-round playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings. Tuukka Rask made 31 saves Saturday, and the defending Eastern Conference champions eliminated the Red Wings with a 4-2 victory in Game 5. After finishing the regular season with the best record in the NHL, the Bruins advanced to the conference semifinals against the Montreal Canadiens. "That series was much tougher than maybe the results showed," said Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, who gave Boston the lead for good with 4 seconds left in the second period. "I think that we handled it well, we came into this series ready and we got the job done." Loui Eriksson opened the scoring for Boston, and Charas goal on a 4-on-3 advantage snapped a 1-1 tie. Milan Lucic also scored, and Jarome Iginla added an empty-netter. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg scored and Jonas Gustavsson stopped 29 shots for Detroit. The Red Wings scored only six goals in the five-game series. "Were not there yet," said Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, whose team failed to win a playoff series in two of the past three seasons. "The last two years, we battled to get into the playoffs. To me, thats a measure of where we are. Instead of battling for the Cup, were battling to make the playoffs." It was 1-1 when the Bruins gained a 4-on-3 power play thanks to a holding penalty on Johan Franzen just 22 seconds before Brendan Smith was called for cross-checking. On a faceoff in the Detroit zone, Patrice Bergeron lured two of the three Red Wings defenders toward the corner and then passed it across the ice to Chara, who one-timed it past Gustavsson. Not usually demonstrative, Chara felt this one was worth celebrating. "It was a big game and a big goal," he said. "So Im not afraid to show it." Lucics goal with 4:27 gone in the third made it a two-goal game. Detroit made it 3-2 with 3:52 left after Rask made two acrobatic saves but left the puck to the side of the nett for Zetterberg, the Red Wings captain who missed two months with back surgery and did not return until Game 4.dddddddddddd Less than a minute later, though the Wings were called for too many men on the ice, leaving them a man down while trying to finish the comeback. With 2 minutes left in the game, the Boston fans began chanting "We want the cup!" Next up: Montreal, which swept Tampa Bay. "Guys were never ever really talking about Montreal," Iginla said. "We know theyve won their series and theyre going to be next, but the only talk today was about thinking about Detroit and getting this series over." The Bruins won it all in 2011 and returned to the Stanley Cup finals last year before they were eliminated when the Chicago Blackhawks scored two goals in 17 seconds in the final 76 seconds of Game 6. Boston seems on its way for another long playoff run this year, finishing the regular season with the best record in the NHL. "We were playing a very good team, a team with a lot of experience, the President Trophy winners," Detroit forward Daniel Alfredsson said. "This is a team that was just playing better than us and we feel a little short." The Bruins scored a power-play goal 3:27 into the first period when Dougie Hamiltons pass bounced off a defenders skate to Eriksson in the slot. Rask earned an assist on the play -- his second career playoff point. It stayed that way until Datsyuk came in and scooped up a rebound 12 seconds into a second-period power play against Lucic for high-sticking. Notes: It was the first NHL playoff game for Red Wings D Xavier Oullette. ... Rask earned an assist on Bostons first goal, his second career playoff point. ... Jimmy Howard, who started in goal for Games 1-3 for Detroit, was the backup. ... Referee Steve Kozari took a puck in the face in the third period. He left the ice through the Bruins bench but returned after a delay of about 2 minutes. ... The Bruins killed off 14 of 15 power plays in the series before allowing a goal after Lucics high-sticking penalty in the second. ' ' '