end of the third quarter. Clearly frustrated, Smith paced the s

ATLANTA -- Dwight Howard was everything the Hawks were hoping for in his hometown debut.Tim Hardaway Jr. in a starring role?That was a major surprise.Hardaway scored 21 points and ignited a fourth-quarter outburst that carried new-look Atlanta to a 114-99 victory over the Washington Wizards in the season opener Thursday night.Howard, who returned to the city where he grew up in the Hawks biggest offseason move, did nothing to disappoint. He grabbed 19 rebounds -- more than anyone had for Atlanta all of last season -- and was a huge presence at the defensive end, disrupting shots and giving his teammates the freedom to be more aggressive on the perimeter.The worst thing you can do is lay an egg in the first game, said Howard, who also had 11 points and three blocks. I think all of us were a little nervous in the first half because we want to do so well. We really want put on for this city. ... Once we kind of settled in, kind of got our feet wet, we took it to another level.Paul Millsap, for one, didnt have to spend so much time banging on the boards. He took advantage at the offensive end, leading the Hawks with 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting.But Hardaway was the one who really came up big, which was totally unexpected given that he was largely confined to the bench and even spent time in the D-League during his first season with the Hawks.Its definitely a new page, a new start, Hardaway said. But (last season) will always be the intro to me in Atlanta. That will always be in the back of my head, how they pushed me, how they got me prepared to get to this point in my career.Hardaway scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back 3-pointers that helped Atlanta pull away, and wound up matching his best showing in a Hawks uniform. Thabo Sefolosha was another key contributor off the bench, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the third quarter.The Hawks, who led only 81-80 heading to the final period, outscored the Wizards 33-19 over the final 12 minutes.Markieff Morris led Washington with 22 points, but it was a tough night for the Wizards dynamic backcourt duo. John Wall finished with only 12 points on 3-of-15 shooting, while Bradley Beal was held to 13 in the debut for new Washington coach Scott Brooks.We got a lot of good looks. Some went down, some didnt, Beal said. But at the end of the day, we cant control our offense. We can control our defense and our effort. We just gave up the last quarter and a half.TIP INSWizards: Marcin Gortat had 11 rebounds but didnt have much help. Washington was outrebounded 52-40. ... Otto Porter was the only other Washington player in double figures with 10 points. ... The Wizards locked arms during the national anthem.Hawks: Howard posted the most rebounds for anyone in their Atlanta debut, breaking the mark of 18 that Shareef Abdur-Rahim set at Houston on Oct. 30, 2001. ... Dennis Schroder, taking over as the starting point guard after the trade of Jeff Teague, had 14 points but only two assists.BROOKS RETURNSAfter deciding not to pursue a coaching job last season, Brooks was back on an NBA sideline with the Wizards.He spent six-plus seasons guiding the Oklahoma City Thunder before he was fired in 2015 after the team failed to make the playoffs.TEMPERS FLAREAtlantas Kent Bazemore was called for a flagrant foul early in the third quarter when he got underneath Wall as the Washington star went in for a breakaway dunk, sending him tumbling to the court.Wall hopped up, looking to go after Bazemore, but several players stepped in before something more serious could develop.Bazemore said he didnt mean to make contact with Wall.I dont play the game that way, Bazemore said. It was just an unfortunate play. We hugged and made up after that.UP NEXTWizards: Play at Memphis on Sunday, facing a Grizzlies team that began the season with a 102-98 victory over Minnesota.Hawks: Travel to Philadelphia on Saturday to take on the 76ers, who went 10-72 last season and opened with a loss to Oklahoma City.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry .Scarpe Nike Air Max Outlet . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. Scarpe Nike Ingrosso . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. http://www.scarpenikeingrosso.it/scarpe-max-95-outlet.html . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Air Max 90 Uomo Ingrosso . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. Air Max 90 Scontate .C. -- Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.One day after giving a vote of confidence to embattled quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, New York Jets coach Todd Bowles backtracked on his commitment, hinting Tuesday he could turn to Geno Smith this weekend.Bowles also expanded the quarterback controversy to four players, saying its definitely possible that Bryce Petty and/or Christian Hackenberg could play before the end of the season.The coach backed Fitzpatrick after Monday nights 28-3 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, saying, Fitz will be back next week. ... Fitz is our starter.Some 18 hours later, Bowles was waffling, which is out of character for him.First of all, after the game, its always going to be status quo because Im never going to tell the media anything before I meet with my coaches and my GM and the rest of the staff, so everything is status quo until we have our meeting [Tuesday night], Bowles said.Fitzpatrick leads the NFL with 11 interceptions and has led the offense to only three touchdowns during the Jets current four-game losing streak.Bowles conceded he revisited the matter after his postgame news conference. He pulled Fitzpatrick midway through the fourth quarter of the blowout, inserting Smith, whose only series ended with an interception.He did show some promise when he was in there, Bowles said of Smith. He understood the game plan and he did good for that drive he was in there.dddddddddddd.Asked directly if Smith could start Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens (3-3), Bowles said, We have to talk about more than that. Theres a possibility every week there will be some changes made, player-wise.Bowles didnt sound pleased that Smith told ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters before the game that he was getting antsy to play.I dont have any thoughts on backup players saying anything, Bowles said. Theyre backups for a reason. If they get a chance to play, they better prove themselves to be worthy of playing regardless of who that person is.Smith also attracted attention on the sideline by throwing his baseball cap and tossing a cup of ice on the field moments after Fitzpatrick was intercepted at the end of the third quarter. Clearly frustrated, Smith paced the sideline, waiting for his shot, which came shortly after that.I dont think anything of it, Bowles said of Smiths sideline behavior.The Jets are 1-5. Since 1970, only two teams have rallied from a 1-5 start to make the postseason. With no quarterback of the future, the Jets are open to auditioning Petty and Hackenberg.Its possible, Bowles said. Weve still got some stages to go before we get to that point, but its definitely possible.Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys ' ' '