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NEW ORLEANS -- Tyreke Evans sore right knee -- and long-term contract -- gave him every reason to sit out the final two games of a losing season with the Pelicans. Yet even as coaches and trainers encouraged him to rest, Evans was having none of it. Instead, he played some of his most relentless, productive and crowd-pleasing basketball of the season. He capped it off with 25 points and 10 assists on Wednesday night, and New Orleans closed out a difficult, injury riddled season with a 105-100 victory over the playoff-bound Houston Rockets. "I just want to have fun, man," Evans said. "It was my last game this year. ... I was hurt. I could have easily sat out, taken the back seat, but coach talked to us about finishing strong and thats what I wanted to do." Two nights earlier, Evans scored a career-high 41 points in a stunning victory over Oklahoma City. Against Houston, he enlivened the crowd with end-to-end drives, high razzle-dazzle dribbles and an array of midair contortions in order to get off shots in traffic near the basket. "He drove me crazy with some of his uh-oh plays, but these last two games, I hope he gets player of the week," coach Monty Williams said. "We needed these two games to go into the summer. He stepped up big-time and carried the team." The Rockets, who had already locked up the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, rested James Harden, Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin. Still, the game was competitive as a number of role players sought to make the most of extended action. Troy Daniels, a rookie guard out of VCU whod scored only 20 points in 31 minutes all season, hit 6 3s and finished with a career-high 22 points. "I was ready to get out there," Daniels said. "It shows the coach has a lot of faith in me. Obviously I have a lot of work to do and a lot of progress to make, but it was a good start for me to get my confidence up." Evans gave New Orleans the lead for good with a driving layup with 2:35 left, then sealed it with a powerful move in which he wedged his way between Jordan Hamilton and Josh Powell for a running, right-handed hook from the lane. "It wasnt just about, We aint making the playoffs; lets pack it up," said guard Anthony Morrow, nodding at Evans. "When a guy who signs a long-term deal still plays the last two games of the season the way he did, it says a lot about him." Austin Rivers added 18 points and Morrow 15 for the Pelicans, who shot 52.4 per cent. Neither team led by more than single digits. New Orleans had the largest lead at 90-81, but Houston responded with a late 11-4 run that included 3s by Hamilton and Daniels, then took a brief 100-99 lead when Hamilton stole the ball and converted a fast-break lay-in with 2:51 left. Regular Houston starters Terrence Jones, who had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Patrick Beverly, who had 14 points, also played as if it mattered. Hamilton hit four 3s on his way to 14 points and Donatas Motiejunas had 11 points and 10 rebounds. "We werent going to change in the standings, so we played a bunch of guys that we hadnt played before," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "Its time to get some guys comfortable." Dwight Howard was among a minority of players who looked like as if he was merely going through the motions. He was 1 of 5 shooting, including a missed 3 after which he allowed a smirk, and grabbed four rebounds while turning the ball over three times. But Howard had more important things to think about with the fourth-seeded Rockets, who won 54 games this season, starting a playoff series against Portland on Sunday. Notes: After missing the past two games with a left ankle injury, Pelicans guard Brian Roberts played 4 minutes, long enough to make three free throws. That got him to 125 made foul shots this season, qualifying him for the official NBA lead in free throw shooting percentage at 93.9 per cent. "To have that, thats something thats special and something Ill never forget," Roberts said. ... Pelicans rookie C Jeff Withey tied a career high with five blocks. ... The loss was Houstons first against the Pelicans in four meetings this season. Deandre Baker Giants Jersey . -- C.J. Wilson parked his car and laughed while signing autographs for faceless fans who handed bats, balls and cards to the pitcher from the other side of a brick wall. Daniel Jones Giants Jersey . With just under five seconds remaining - the Raptors having clawed back from a 19-point deficit and pulled within one - DeRozan took the handoff from Chuck Hayes. http://www.giantsonlineteamshop.com/harry-carson-jersey-cheap.html . Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley told local media in comments published Wednesday that John Tomic would not be allowed into Melbourne Park in any official capacity or as a spectator. Mark Bavaro Youth Jersey .C. Lions 35-14, was named the CFLs offensive player of the week Tuesday. Sheets recorded his ninth 100-yard rushing performance of the season to tie the Riders club record. Michael Strahan Youth Jersey . -- Two out of three aint bad.Berkeley, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - The 21st-ranked Washington Huskies will try to bounce back from their first loss of the 2014-15 season as they open up Pac-12 Conference play against the California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion. Washington was 11-0 on the season before the team hosted America East program Stony Brook on Sunday. The Huskies suffered their first loss of the new campaign against the Seawolves, 62-57. Washington is 1-0 away from home on the year. California was 10-1 on the season until two consecutive losses against Wisconsin (68-56) and CSU Bakersfield (55-52) set the Golden Bears back to 10-3. This home clash is the sixth contest in a seven-game stretch in Berkeley for California. These two Pac-12 rivals have met a 158 times on the basketball court in their series history, and the all-time advantage favors California by just two games, 80-78. The programs met last February in Seattle, which saw the Golden Bears come away with a 72-59 road win. Overall, Washington seriously struggled to get any sort of offense going in the teams home loss - the first of the season - against Stony Brook. The Huskies shot a mere 34.3 percent for the game from the field, and connected on only 3-of-10 shooting from 3-point range. The Seawolves did a stellar job limiting Washingtons best players, as Nigel Williams-Goss and Robert Upshaw each netted 10 points apiece to lead the team as the only Huskies players in double digits. Upshaw chipped in 11 rebounds for the double-double, and Jernard Jarreau added 10 boards in the loss. Williams-Goss leads a group of four players averraging a double-digit point total this season, as the guard is netting 13.dddddddddddd6 ppg this season with a team- best 80 assists. The Huskies are scoring 70.8 ppg on 44.5 percent shooting from the floor, but the teams scoring defense has been the real story so far. Washington is allowing just 58.7 ppg to opponents on an especially low 33.9 shooting percentage. Andrew Andrews (12.0 ppg), Upshaw (10.8 ppg) and Shawn Kemp Jr. (10.3 ppg) round out the teams double-digit scorers. California will be hoping for a complete turnaround in terms of offensive success against the Huskies on Friday. The Golden Bears netted just 39.1 percent of their field goal tries in the teams three-point loss to CSU Bakersfield, including just 2-of-15 from 3-point distance. Tyrone Wallace led the way for the Bears with 17 points, also grabbing nine rebounds in the defeat to come just short of a double-double. David Kravish did complete the double-double for Cal, netting 14 points with 10 rebounds. Wallace has played well enough to already garner attention as a potential Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year candidate. The guard leads the team in all three major statistical categories. Wallace enters the game against Washington averaging 19.2 ppg, 8.8 rpg, and has dished out 53 assists in just under 35 minutes per outing. Jordan Mathews (12.8 ppg) and Kravish (10.6 ppg) are the teams other two double-digit scorers, although Jabari Bird (11.7 ppg in six games played) would help out the scoring effort plenty if he were healthy. He will miss yet another game with a bruised left foot. ' ' '