HOUSTON -- The Houston Rockets were trailing Minnesota by 10 points early in the second quarter on Thursday night when a very unhappy Kevin McHale called a timeout hoping to help his team get on track. James Harden wasnt worried and told his coach as much. "He was fired up but I told him: Its OK. Were going to be all right," Harden said. And they were. Houston scored 17 straight points after that timeout, led by 10 from Harden, to take the lead and roll to an easy 129-106 win. "We werent playing very well," McHale said. "So I got into them a little bit and they responded." Harden had 28 points with eight assists, Donatas Motiejunas added a career-best 20 points and Chandler Parsons had 19 points for Houston. Houston never trailed after the 17-0 run and padded the advantage with another big run to start the third quarter. It was Houstons second straight game without Dwight Howard, who sat out with a strained left ankle. Omer Asik started in his place and filled in ably with a season-high-tying 12 points as the Rockets won for the seventh time in 10 games. "Obviously we want Dwight back as soon as possible," Parsons said. "But Omer is so good you dont miss much out there on the floor ... we have a real luxury having both of those guys down there." Kevin Love had 29 points and rookie Gorgui Dieng 22 points and 21 rebounds, which were both career-highs. He has had a double-double in each of his three starts, which have come in the last three games. "In the first quarter we came out pretty good," Minnesota coach Rick Adelman said. "Then they had that run on us and it really wasnt a game from that point on. We werent scoring at all and we werent getting back and they seemed to have their way." Ricky Rubio had five points, eight assists and two rebounds for Minnesota a night after posting his third career triple-double with 22 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds in a 123-122 overtime win at Dallas. "We came off an overtime game and we just didnt seem to have energy," Love said. "These are the dog days where youre trying to give everything youve got and sometimes its just not good enough." Houston led by 10 at halftime and opened the third quarter with a 16-7 spurt to extend the lead to 80-61 with about 8 1/2 minutes left in the quarter. Harden, who finished with six 3s, and Patrick Beverley both made 3-pointers during that run and Asik had seven points with a pair of dunks. Love hit a 3-pointer after that before Terrence Jones made four quick points to push the lead to 84-64. Luc Mbah a Moute went up for a dunk later in the quarter, but it was blocked by Asik, drawing oohs from the crowd when it happened live and again when it was replayed on the jumbotron. Asik finished with four blocks. Houston was up by 21 soon after that when the Timberwolves cut into the lead with an 8-0 run thanks to two 3-pointers by Love to make it 89-76. The Rockets led by 98-82 entering the fourth quarter. Jones had 10 points and Beverley had 14 as all five Rockets starters scored in double digits. "When we move the basketball like that, everyone is going to score," Harden said. "It gives each and every guy confidence to make that right pass and to shoot the basketball. So, when we play like that, its tough to beat us." The lead was 16 midway through the fourth quarter when the Rockets went on another run -- this one 8-3 -- to make it 118-97. Harden scored the last five points in that span before sitting down for the night. Minnesota got within five points late in the second quarter, but the Rockets used a 9-4 run, capped by another 3 from Harden, to end the half up 64-54. NOTES: Minnesota C Nikola Pekovic didnt play for the third straight game because of a sore right ankle. ... Houston Texans running back Arian Foster and 2012 Heisman Trophy winner and former A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel sat together in seats behind the Rockets bench. ... Dieng is the sixth player since the NBA began tracking starts in 1970 to have at least 20 points and 20 rebounds within his first three career starts. Cheap Air Jordan 3 Australia . Poti played in 824 regular NHL games with four teams in his career; the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and the Washington Capitals. Buy Air Jordan 3 Australia . The American secured his first back-to-back ATP match wins since June to leave Tsonga relying on his performance at next weeks Paris Masters to clinch one of the final three places for the season-ending event in London. 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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Coyotes knew Mike Ribeiro had behavioural issues when they signed him before last season, but hoped a reunion with coach Dave Tippett would help him. It didnt, at least not to the Coyotes satisfaction. The Coyotes initiated a buyout of the final three years of Ribeiros contract on Friday, parting ways with their top off-season acquisition from a year ago. "Mike had some real behavioural issues we felt we could not tolerate going forward," Coyotes general manager Don Maloney said. The Coyotes had sought a playmaking centre for years and appeared to have landed one when they signed Ribeiro to a four-year, $22 million contract last off-season. He was one of the top free agents on the market last year and was considered a major couup for the franchises new ownership group, IceArizona, which had agreed on a lease agreement to keep the team in Glendale just three days earlier.dddddddddddd The 34-year-old Ribeiro showed flashes of the brilliance he had in Washington, where he played at a point-per-game pace during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. But as the season wore on, Ribeiro became less effective and struggled with personal problems despite playing for Tippett, his former coach in Dallas. Ribeiro was a healthy scratch in games against Pittsburgh and New Jersey late in the season while the Coyotes were fighting for a playoff spot and was largely ineffective down the stretch. He finished with 16 goals and 31 assists in 80 games. The Coyotes became the Arizona Coyotes on Friday. ' ' '