most notable play might have come with his legs when he scrambled 1

HOUSTON -- James Harden blamed the added suspense on Rockets coach Mike DAntoni.Harden made a free throw with 0.1 seconds left, lifting the Rockets over the Dallas Mavericks 93-92 in their home opener Sunday night.Harden put extra pressure on himself by missing the first of two foul shots after being fouled by Wesley Matthews on a driving layup at the buzzer with the game tied.Coach messed me up, man -- he said, `Make the first one and miss the second one, and I did the opposite, Harden said with a smile. Im just happy I made it and we came away with the win.Harden led Houston with 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, edging Matthews in a gutsy back-and-forth.After trailing by 10 entering the fourth quarter, Dallas tied it at 92 on a 3-pointer by Matthews with 4.1 seconds remaining.DAntoni was pleased with the execution on the play that won the game. Nene received the inbound pass and found a cutting Harden with a crisp bounce pass before Matthews drew his sixth foul.Thats what he does, DAntoni said. Thats why hes one of the best, and hes just so good at drawing fouls and getting in the lane.Matthews led Dallas with 25 points and J.J. Barea scored 18 points off the bench. In falling to the Rockets for the second time in three days, the Mavericks fell to 0-3 for the first time since 2011-12, the lockout-shortened season following their title.We gave ourselves a chance, and it comes down to the one play and the whistle, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. Were up against it right now in a lot of ways, but no ones backing down. Weve just got to find a way.Dallas was without Dirk Nowitzki (illness, sore Achilles tendon) for a second straight game. Nowitzki participated in pregame warmups but was a late scratch.Our margin for error is so slim, Matthews said. Were not the Golden State Warriors, were not the Cleveland Cavaliers, were not the Spurs, but were a ... good team. So weve got to minimize the stuff that we can control.Houston got strong performances from offseason additions Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson and Nene in their home debuts. Gordon had 14 points, Anderson had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Nene had 11 points.The Rockets capped the first and second quarters with points at the buzzer. To end the first, Corey Brewer hit a 3-pointer from 30 feet out. Harden ended the second quarter on a driving layup to put the Rockets up 63-53.Late in the third quarter, Houstons Trevor Ariza and Dallas Salah Mejri received double-technical fouls after both players fell to the floor and were tangled for a few seconds. Ariza clinched his fists before he was restrained by players.TIP-INSMavericks: Without Nowitzki, Dallas was frequently undersized but managed to hold their own in the rebounding category, with Houston edging the Mavericks 46-42. ... Starting in Nowitzkis place, Seth Curry played 23 minutes and scored no points on 0-for-3 shooting.Rockets: Houston was plagued by 17 turnovers compared to just nine turnovers from Dallas. ... Sam Dekker scored nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from 3-point range.DEFENSIVE COMPOSUREAfter the defense struggled in a 106-98 loss to Houston on Friday, Dallas allowed 63 points in the first half before holding Houston to just 17 points in the third quarter and 13 points in the fourth quarter.HOPKINS IN HOUSEHouston Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins was in attendance for the game, just hours removed from his teams 20-13 win over the Detroit Lions.UP NEXTMavericks: Visit Utah on Wednesday night.Rockets: Visit Cleveland on Tuesday for the first leg of a season-long five-game road trip. Custom Blazers Jerseys . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. Custom Terry Porter Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.customblazersjersey.com/ . -- The plastic that was taped across the lockers in Oaklands clubhouse came down and the champagne that was on ice went back into the cooler. Custom Blazers Jersey China . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. Cheap Blazers Jerseys . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. ALAMEDA, Calif. -- When the game is on the line in the closing minutes, Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr looks for inspiration in an unusual place.Instead of trying to emulate quarterbacks known for late-game heroics like Ken Stabler or Tom Brady, Carr looks to the basketball court and Kobe Bryant for a player to imitate.In my head, Im a big Kobe fan, Carr said Wednesday. That Mamba mentality. You have to go out there and you have to do it. Ive studied him and watched him forever. Thats always been my mindset when I get into close situations. They dont always work out, but thats where my mind is at.Carr delivered in the clutch in the opener at New Orleans, driving the Raiders 75 yards in the closing minutes to throw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Seth Roberts with 47 seconds remaining. He followed that up with a 2-point conversion pass to Michael Crabtree that gave Oakland a 35-34 win.Carr said the key in those situations is slowing the game down and making sure small things like footwork and his eye placement are proper so the results follow.I definitely have worked on it, Carr said. Theres times where I get emotionally hijacked, then Ill try and force something and do something. I just tried the whole game to be my same competitive self just with the same mentality good or bad. I felt that being able to stay that way kept my mind in a good spot throughout the whole game.The comeback in the opener marked the sixth time in two-plus seasons that Carr has a led a fourth-quarter comeback. He had a strong performance in all as he shows even more improvement at the start of his third NFL season. He completed 24 of 38 passes for 319 yards, while committing no turnovers and taking no sacks. He threw the one TD pass and also converted a pair of 2-point tries that helped lead Oakland to the win.ddddddddddddThe Raiders look to follow that with another win in the home opener Sunday against Atlanta (0-1) as they seek their first 2-0 start since the 2002 seasonWe came away very impressed, Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. We knew that he was a nice athlete but having the vision to (know) where to hitch up, when to scramble, when to convert, those are the things that come with some maturity, you know, `Where this is a time where I can go take my shot to run it for a first down. He totally captured that part.Before the late drive to win the game, Carrs most notable play might have come with his legs when he scrambled 11 yards to convert a third-and-9 in the second quarter. He capped the run with a summersault flip over defender DeVante Harris and followed that with an emphatic first-down signal.Carr injured his hand in last years opener when he tried to stiff-arm Cincinnatis Adam Jones on a scramble and coach Jack Del Rio wants him to be more cautious when he runs because he is too important to the team.Its really hard, especially in the flow of the game, Carr said. Coach was happy that I stopped trying to run people over and use the stiff arm. Now he said, `Unless its for the Super Bowl, stop flipping over people, too. I think everyones heart dropped when I did that, I think mine did too.Game notes RT Austin Howard returned to practice after missing the opener with a sprained right ankle. ... OL Menelik Watson (groin) and Matt McCants (knee) missed practice after leaving last weeks game with injuries. ... Starting C Rodney Hudson and G Gabe Jackson also did not practice.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '