HOUSTON -- Houston coach Kevin McHale worried that his team might come out flat Monday night against the struggling Utah Jazz after dropping a close game to the Heat in Miami a day before. His fears were completely unwarranted. Terrence Jones scored 30 points and the Rockets ended a three-game skid with their most lopsided victory of the season, a 124-86 win over the Jazz. "Theres got to be an emphasis on how we play and improving," McHale said. "Its really important that we keep improving and getting better." Dwight Howard was out with an ankle strain, leaving the Rockets without him for the first time this season. But they still had no problem handling the Jazz, who have lost five in a row and have one of the worst records in the Western Conference. Houston was up by 19 at halftime and 13 points by Jones in the third quarter helped push the lead to 92-69 entering the fourth. "We just wanted to be aggressive," Jones said. "Coming off three tough ones we wanted to come out and have a lot of energy and just get back to playing ... the way we had been playing." The big lead allowed an overworked James Harden, who had played more than 43 minutes in three of the previous four games, to rest a bit as he watched the fourth quarter from the bench. Harden finished with 15 points. Houston used a 15-0 run starting midway through the fourth quarter with all their starters on the bench except for Jones to push the already lopsided game to a 40-point advantage. Jordan Hamilton had seven points for Houston during the run. Derrick Favours had 15 points for the Jazz a night after scoring a career-high 28. "This is a lesson for the young guys," Jazz coach Ty Corbin said. "They have to learn to get ready every night. Tonight, we just couldnt get it going. It was like we were running in mud and couldnt get ourselves out of it." It was unclear when Howard was injured, but the team announced the mild strain to his left ankle about 40 minutes before tipoff. He had been the only Rockets player to start every game this season before missing Mondays game. Omer Asik started in his place and finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Houston got back on track after an 0-3 road trip for its first three-game losing streak of the season. The losses came at Oklahoma City, Chicago and Miami and followed a great stretch in which the Rockets won five straight over some of the Eastern Conferences best teams. "Weve been playing well and were confident in each and how weve been playing," Harden said. "The last three games have been a slip up, but overall I think were in a good place." Patrick Beverley scored 19 and Jeremy Lin had 17 for the Rockets, who are second to San Antonio in the Southwest Division. Jones opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer and scored the first nine points of the second half for Houston to extend the lead to 69-47. Asik had a dunk for the Rockets before Jones added four more points to leave Houston up 75-51. Favours made two free throws for the Jazz midway through the quarter before Beverley scored four points for the Rockets to stretch the lead to 26 points. Utah finally found some offence after, scoring eight straight points with the first six from Alec Burks to cut the lead to 79-61. The Jazz cut the lead to seven on a 3-pointer by Richard Jefferson with about 9 1/2 minutes left in the first half. Houston used a 13-2 spurt to stretch the lead to 47-29 about 3 1/2 minutes later. Lin and Beverley scored all of Houstons points in that span with Beverley scoring eight and Lin adding the rest. Utah went almost four minutes without scoring before a layup by Favours with four minutes left in the second quarter. Houston led 60-41 at halftime. The Rockets were up by two points with three minutes left in the first quarter before using an 8-2 run to close out the period and extend their lead to 28-20. NOTES: Houston F Omri Casspi missed the game with the flu. ... The Jazz won 109-103 in the last meeting with Houston this season. ... Houstons Francisco Garcia and Utahs John Lucas got into a scuffle as the game ended and pushed each other before they were separated and both led off the court. ... The Rockets shot 58.2 per cent and had 30 fast-break points, which were both season highs. Zach Allen Youth Jersey . "Last year didnt go the way we wanted it to, but we need to look at what went well and what didnt go so well. Hopefully this year we will be better," Brendan Gallagher said after practice. This year, the Canadiens have a little more depth to work with by adding players like Daniel Briere, Dale Weise, Mike Weaver, Douglas Murray and arguably, the biggest addition to this playoff roster, Thomas Vanek, who the Canadiens were able to land at the trade deadline. Kyler Murray Jersey . The South Africa international, who rejoined the club last month on loan from Tottenham, opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a powerful shot into the roof of the net. http://www.thecardinalsshoponline.com/Yo...rdinals-Jersey/. Chelsea ripped apart Hull inside 25 minutes at Stamford Bridge, with the early goals from Oscar and Frank Lampard securing a 2-0 victory. While Lampard had earlier missed a penalty, Roberto Soldado had no such trouble from the spot for Tottenham, scoring on his debut to clinch a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace. Kurt Warner Womens Jersey . -- Canadas Justin Shin shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday on PGA Wests Nicklaus Tournament Course to take the first-round lead in the Web. Adrian Wilson Youth Jersey . Sijsling, ranked 74th in the world, was leading 6-0, 4-1 when his Italian opponent called it quits after just 39 minutes on court. In a match pitting together two qualifiers, Michal Przysiezny of Poland defeated local favourite Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4) for only his second Tour win of the season.Wolves Dave Edwards thinks the race for automatic promotion from the Championship will go down to the wire, but tips Middlesbroughs Jordan Rhodes to be the difference. Boro currently lead the pack but they are only two points ahead of Burnley and Brighton with just three games left to play in the race for the automatic promotion.Rhodes arrival in January from Blackburn has helped the club reach the top of the table, scoring key goals including a brace in a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Bolton on Saturday - his tally for the season is 16 goals. And Edwards has been impressed with Aitor Karankas side this term labeling them the stand out team. Highlights from Burnleys 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough Theyve been great all season and we played them earlier in the season, we actually went on nil up in that game, Edwards told Sky Sports News HQ.They had the likes of [Albert] Adomah and [Stewart] Downing on the bench and it just shows the strength of their squad.They came back and won the game 3-1 and probably out of those three teams theyve been the stand out team.Hes (Rhodes) is a terrific player and that might just be the difference when it comes down to it. Andre Gray [left] has been crucial to Burnleys promotion push Burnley enter the final three games of the season unbeaten in their last 20 league games and Wales international midfielder Edwards has refused to rule them out of the race.dddddddddddd think its the Sean Dyche effect, he has a really well drilled team, they dont change much its the same eleven whenever they can and they are very organised and hard to break down, he said.Then you have the quality they have going forward thats going to get them goals. Andre Gray has been crucial to the Clarets promotion push and is currently top scorer in the Championship with 24 goals this season and Edwards believes he is destined for the Premier League.I have followed him (Gray) right the way through and he will definitely go on to be a big player in the Premier League I have no doubt that, said Edwards.Brighton have fought their way back in to the race for automatic promotion despite stuttering over the Christmas period going on a win-less streak of eight games after an astounding start to the season with a 21-game unbeaten run. Brighton manager Chris Hughton has seen his side fight their way back in to the race for automatic promotion Edwards believes Brightons manager Chris Hughton deserves credit for the turn-around at the club after last years disappointment.Its been a tremendous story because they started the season great going on a really long unbeaten run, said Edwards.Chris