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. Discount Vapormax Uk . -- Get a flow chart ready to follow the Packers quarterback situation. Nike Vapormax Sale . Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Raptors have traded forward Steve Novak along with a second-round pick to the Utah Jazz in exchange for guard Diante Garrett - who will then be waived. http://www.discountvapormaxuk.com/ . The Blue Jackets got goals from Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and R.J. Umberger and Curtis McElhinney posted his first shutout since 2011 in a 4-0 victory on Friday night. Discount Nike Vapormax . They have watched it from afar. And now they have seen it for themselves. Nike Vapormax Uk Cheap . The 26-year-old Regina native teamed up with Denny Morrison and Mathieu Giroux to win gold in 2010. Makowsky also was 13th in the 5,000 metres and 19th in the 1,500m in Vancouver. He also represented Canada at the 2014 Games in Sochi, helping the pursuit team finish fourth and finishing 28th in the 1,500.EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings have released linebacker Erin Henderson, who was recently arrested twice on suspicion of drunken driving. The Vikings announced Hendersons release Friday. Henderson had one season left on his contract with a $1.95 million salary. Hendersons latest arrest was Jan. 1 after he crashed his sport utility vehicle in Chanhassen. Henderson is scheduled to appear in court March 3 on charges off second- and third-degree driving while intoxicated and test refusal, possession of a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, and violation of a limited drivers license.dddddddddddd Henderson was moved to middle linebacker last season and the starter there until he was arrested Nov. 19 in Eden Prairie on suspicion of DWI and drug possession. The 27-year-old finished second on the team in tackles last season. ' ' '