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HOUSTON - With his team under constant assault down the stretch Monday night, Bradley Beal did what needed to be done: He played with confidence.Beal scored a season-high 33 points, including six free throws in the final two minutes, and Washington survived a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Rockets for a 104-103 victory.I was just being aggressive, taking what the defence gave me, said Beal, who also went 5-for-9 from 3-point range. I was fortunate to have a lot of open shots.Paul Pierce added 21, and John Wall finished with 13 to go with a game-high 12 assists for Washington, which got its third straight victory to open a five-game road trip.Washington improved to 22-8 to match its best start after 30 games in franchise history. The last time they did it was the 1974-75 season.James Harden scored 33 points — including nine in the final 20 seconds, capped by a 3-pointer with under a second to go in regulation — and Corey Brewer added 15 from the bench for the Rockets (21-9), who dropped their third straight.Trevor Ariza, facing his former team for the first time since signing with Houston in the off-season, finished with 15 points and five rebounds.The win was far from perfect for Washington, which led by 18 points in the third quarter before succumbing to sloppy play.Houston outscored the Wizards on second-chance points (18-9) and points in the paint (50-34) but was plagued by poor shooting.Washington had no such issues, shooting nearly 93 per cent from the free-throw line and 44.4 per cent from beyond the arc. Beals steady hand from the free-throw line helped the Wizards avoid a disaster.It was me shooting with confidence and playing with confidence, Beal said.Washington coach Randy Wittman will take it.Listen, its hard to win in this league, Wittman said. What am I taking away from this? Its a good win to start this road trip. There are things we can do better and we learn from them. But in my book there is not a bad win.The Wizards opened the second half on a 9-4 run over the first two minutes and never trailed after that. The Rockets didnt help themselves, committing five turnovers during the span.Beal helped give the Wizards a 46-45 halftime lead with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.The Wizards trailed by seven after Patrick Beverleys layup with 4:46 left in the half, but Beal led a 13-4 surge in the final four minutes with back-to-back 3-pointers.We had a bad end of the second quarter and we had a bad start to the third, Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. We put ourselves in a big hole.Houston had early success against Wall. He entered the game averaging 17.4 points and 11.7 assists on just under 50-per cent shooting in December.It was a big win, Wall said. We almost gave it away with me giving away two turnovers at the end and giving them opportunities to score, but guys stepped up and made big plays for us. ___TIP-INSThe Rockets: Harden was named player of the week for the Western Conference after helping Houston to a 2-1 record. Harden averaged a league-best 34.7 points and 7.3 assists. He deserves it, McHale said. We wouldnt have the record we have if it wasnt for James, no question about that. . G Alexey Shved missed his second consecutive game because of a left ankle sprain.The Wizards: F Martell Webster suited up for the first time this season after Washington activated him earlier Monday. The move came some six months after he underwent back surgery to repair a herniated disk. Webster saw no action.UP NEXTHouston plays host to Charlotte on Wednesday.Washington visits Dallas on Tuesday, the second of a five-game road swing.GOAL MALFUNCTIONThe matchup got off to a bumpy start. Play was stopped 48 seconds into the first quarter because the rim the Rockets were shooting became crooked. It took Toyota Center staff about 30 minutes to replace the goal, and play resumed after an additional five-minute warmup period.The episode was reminiscent of another delay experienced by both teams in January, when a water leak at Verizon Center in D.C. resulted in a rare rain delay lasting more than a half hour. Drew Brees Youth Jersey .J. - The New York Jets have signed former Green Bay Packers backup quarterback Graham Harrell, giving them some added depth at the position. Drew Brees Jersey . Mission accomplished. Now the Royals will take the field on Saturday with a World Series lead for the first time in team history when they play Game 4 of the Fall Classic against the Giants at AT&T Park. http://www.saintsrookiestore.com/Saints-Willie-Roaf-Jersey/. -- Canadas Nicole Vandermade won the Four Winds Invitational on Sunday for her first Symetra Tour title, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory. Marshon Lattimore Jersey . Parmelee hit a game-ending shot in the ninth inning and the Minnesota Twins overcame David Ortizs big night to beat the Boston Red Sox 8-6 on Tuesday. Sam Mills Womens Jersey . You can watch all the action on TSN and TSN GO beginning at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt. Minnesota dropped the first two tests of this best-of-seven set at Chicagos United Center and was outscored by a combined 9-3 margin in those setbacks. However, the Wild righted themselves at home by taking Game 3 by a 4-0 count before knotting the series at two games apiece with Fridays 4-2 triumph at Xcel Energy Center.NICOSIA, Cyprus -- It wasnt the result he wanted but John Herdman was pretty happy about how Canada finished the Cyprus Cup womens soccer tournament. Diana Matheson and Sophie Schmidt scored second-half goals as Canada rallied for a 2-1 win over Ireland to secure fifth place. It marked the first time in six years the Canadians hadnt reached the tournament final, but Herdman was encouraged by how his team dealt with that adversity. "The team showed a real resilience and that second-half performance was just phenomenal," he said. "This is a very unique group of women, when the chips are down they really can pull it out of the bag. "You think theyre out and then they come back and keep fighting but I thought the second half wasnt just about fight. They played just some wonderful football. The Irish were on the rocks for 45 minutes and we knew it was just a matter of time." Ireland opened the scoring early in the first half before Matheson tied it at the 56-minute mark. Schmidt highlighted a wild finish, scoring at the 90-minute mark. Canada, ranked seventh in the world, has traditionally fared well in this event. The national team won the tournament three times and was a finalist the last two years. But that streak ended with a 2-0 loss to England on Monday. And considering all the Canadians needed to advance was a draw, Herdman admitted the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow. "Absolutely," he said. "In previous tournaments we dodged the bullet of having England or France in our qualifying group and when we ended up (with England) in our group, we knew that was the game that was going to make the difference. "Getting the girls up for this one was tough because we were pretty devastated. But we tried to focus on this being a World Cup and just losing the final game in our group but still having qualified with another game to play and what strategies wed have to put in place to get things pulled around and in focus. It was a pretty good two days for our team." Despite the fifth-place finish, Herdman said the Canadian team learned many valuable lessons at the tournament. "We struggled, and Ill tell you why we did against the English and Irish defensive tactics," Herdman said. "The English held a really deep defensive block and hit us on the counter-attack, they just preyed on our sloppy play and within seconds were firing shots or crosses and I think that was the real learning this year. "Against a zone or 4-4-2 we did well, we did well against Italys 3-5-2 but against that deep 4-5-1 block, which is also what the Irish did, we struggled.dddddddddddd. But what was exciting about that last game was we were able to get hold of a tactic and the players really made a big push." The 2014 and 15 seasons are big ones for Canadian womens soccer. In August, the world under-20 tournament will be held in four cities -- Edmonton, Moncton, Montreal and Toronto. Then in 2015, Canada will host the womens World Cup with games in Edmonton, Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and Winnipeg. And following Canadas stirring bronze medal victory at the 2012 London Summer Games, there will be plenty of expectations on the national teams shoulders in 2015. That fact certainly isnt lost on Herdman, who said the squad has a definite plan in place. "Its always been said Canadians are great in the power phase, theyre good at defending and theyre good at the counter-attack," he said. "But the ability to control and develop possession through the thirds of the pitch, thats the strand thats been missing. "Weve put a massive amount of focus in that and at times it has been to our detriment. We couldve went into the England game and said, Look, well drop a deep block, well launch it from the keeper every time we get it because the only focus is about winning the tournament, but we didnt. We played our way." Herdman said playing their way meant a definite eye to the future and not just another solid Cyprus Cup showing. "If we were going to win the tournament, we were going to win it a certain way that would also help us be more successful against teams in the womens World Cup playing a brand these girls wanted to be recognized for," Herdman said. "Even after we went up 2-1 against the Irish, the girls were still doing things trying to play a certain style of football where normally youd try to kill a game off. "At this stage of our development I think thats OK but when it comes down to the World Cup, well be in a stage where we know how to play those games like we did at the Olympics." So for Herdman, his measurement for success at the Cyprus Cup goes way beyond wins and losses. "I think we definitely got better, our statistics