team celebrate a playoff victory or post-season-clinching win s

(SportsNetwork. Boston Celtics Shirts .com) - The Golden State Warriors will try to pad their franchise-best 13-game winning streak on Wednesday, but will face a tall order in the form of the visiting Houston Rockets. The Warriors have vaulted atop the standings in the NBA, but the Rockets arent far off. They share the second-fewest losses and may have as good a chance as anyone in slowing down the Warriors. Houston is second in the NBA in opponents scoring, which should help against the leagues fourth-best offense. Of course, you dont get to be 18-2 without playing some defense and the Warriors rank sixth in opponents scoring. These two teams met in one of the biggest matchups of the early season. Both were undefeated when Golden State toppled the Rockets, 98-87, in Houston on Nov. 8. Steph Curry went off for 34 that night, but the Rockets didnt have All- Defensive Second-Team member Patrick Beverley. The Rockets also didnt have Dwight Howard, a former Defensive Player of the Year, but he isnt expected back from a knee injury on Wednesday. The Warriors havent lost since a home setback to the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 11. Since, Golden State has taken five in a row at Oracle Arena, but it just returned from a perfect road trip. The Warriors went 2-0 over the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves. Golden State knocked off the Bulls by 10 at the United Center, then dispatched the Timberwolves by 16 on Monday night. Curry and Klay Thompson each scored 21 points to help the Warriors extend their winning streak. They stretched their road winning streak to eight games, which is also the best in team history. Tonight was not our best ever, the second half was good, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. Its good to pile up as many road wins as possible because its going to get tougher as we go. Shaun Livingston and Marreese Speights both netted 12 points and Draymond Green added 10 points with 10 rebounds in the win. Warriors center Andrew Bogut left the game after just two minutes in with right knee irritation. Neither Bogut, nor Kerr seemed terribly concerned about the injury after the game, so Bogut could be in the lineup against the Rockets. Houston has endured a horrid season with injuries and it seems like Howard and starting forward Terrence Jones will both be out for a while. All-Star guard James Harden has back spasms and is questionable. The Rockets have had four days off to get healthy. Their last game was a 100-95 home win over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, their fourth consecutive victory. Beverley returned from a hamstring injury to give the Rockets a big lift, scoring 19 points. Beverley, who had missed Houstons last five games, knocked down 5-of-8 attempts from 3-point range and added six rebounds off the bench. We dont win that game unless Pat plays, Rockets head coach Kevin McHale stated. Trevor Ariza also had 19 points in a game the Rockets led from start-to-finish en route to their seventh win in eight outings. Harden offset a 5-of-21 shooting night by posting 12 rebounds and seven assists. He finished with 15 points, while Donatas Motiejunas had 16 along with 11 rebounds. Harden is second in the NBA with 25.2 ppg. These two teams, who have had some testy moments in recent seasons, have split the last six meetings, but Golden State prevailed in the last two. The Rockets are 3-1 in their last four in Oakland. Boston Celtics Gear .com) - There may be a debate in Philadelphia about who should be the starting quarterback of the Eagles. Cheap Celtics Jerseys .com) - Eric Fehr and Marcus Johansson each registered a pair of goals, as Washington spoiled the head coaching debut of Peter Horachek by picking up a 6-2 victory in Toronto on Wednesday. https://www.cheapceltics.com/ . - Pete Rose didnt want it to be about him, not on a day when four new members were elected to baseballs most exclusive club.ATLANTA -- The Washington Nationals bounced up and down in unison near second base, not bothered at all by a smattering of boos from the crowd at Turner Field. They were saving the real celebration for the clubhouse. The Nationals wrapped up their second NL East title in three years against the team that knocked them out of the top spot last season, beating the Atlanta Braves 3-0 on Tuesday night. Tanner Roark pitched five-hit ball over seven innings and Ian Desmonds two-run homer broke a scoreless tie in the sixth, sending Washington back to the playoffs with nearly two weeks to spare. "Nice to have it done," said Washington first baseman Adam LaRoche, who began his career with the Braves. "The sooner, the better." In the clubhouse, the Nationals drenched each other -- and pretty much anything that moved -- with seemingly endless streams of beer. Lil Jons party anthem "Turn Down For What" boomed from the speakers. Bryce Harper, wearing goggles and a fire helmet with "34" across the front, posed for selfies with his teammates. "We want to keep going, keep winning ballgames," Harper said. The clinching victory was especially sweet coming against the Braves, who finished 10 games ahead of the Nationals in 2013. The roles were reversed this season as Washington steadily pulled away down the stretch. The teams were tied for the lead as late as July 20. It was no contest the rest of the way. The Nationals stretched the lead to a season-high 12 1/2 games with the victory. "Its just one step. Theres a long, hard road ahead of us," Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth said. "But were going to enjoy the moment for now." Atlanta lost for the 11th time in 14 games, further damaging its hopes of making a third straight playoff appearance, this time as a wild card. The Braves dropped to 75-76 with their fifth straight loss, the first time they have been under .500 since losing on opening day. "You never want anybody to celebrate on your field," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "But they did it professionally, I thought. I didnt expect anything less from that organization." The Braves fell 5 1/2 games behind Pittsburgh for the second NL wild card with 11 games left in the regular season. "Weve still got a chance," Gonzalez insisted. "Now weve got to set our sights on a winning streak and maybe we can come in witth a second wild card. Boston Celtics Pro Shop. " Roark (14-10) pitched around four leadoff singles by Atlanta, which never got a runner past second base. He struck out four and walked none, lifted after throwing 89 pitches. Tyler Clippard worked a scoreless eighth, and Drew Storen finished up for his seventh save. The Nationals finally broke through in the sixth against Aaron Harang (11-11). After Werth led off with a walk, LaRoche took a called third strike before Harang worked the count to 2-2 on Desmond. The next pitch was a breaking ball that stayed up in the zone. Desmond got all of it, sending a drive deep into the left-field seats for his 23rd homer. Left fielder Justin Upton barely moved, while Harang pumped his fist angrily on the mound. "A curveball down the middle," Desmond said. "It ended up going out of the ballpark." He scored Washingtons other run in the ninth, trotting home on David Carpenters wild pitch. The Nationals will be making just the third playoff appearance in the franchises 46-year history. The club reached the post-season only once as the Montreal Expos (in 1981) before moving to Washington for the 2005 season. Two years ago, the Nationals had a major league-leading 98 wins but were stunned by the St. Louis Cardinals in the deciding game of the NL division series. Washington jumped ahead 6-0 after three innings and still led 7-5 going to the ninth, only to give up four runs with two outs. "We have a chance for redemption," LaRoche said. TRAINERS ROOM Nationals: Harper was back in the lineup after leaving Mondays game in the third inning when he felt light-headed. Manager Matt Williams said Harper had a "little bit of the gunk" that seemed to be going around in the Washington clubhouse. Braves: C Evan Gattis missed his eighth straight game since coming down with strep throat. Gonzalez said he doesnt know when Gattis will be healthy enough to return. UP NEXT Nationals: LHP Gio Gonzalez (8-10) has won two of his three starts in September after going nearly two months without a win. Braves: LHP Alex Wood (10-10) has lasted at least seven innings and allowed two runs or fewer in 12 of his 22 starts. Atlanta is 5-7 in those games. A TRADITION LIKE NO OTHER It was the 10th time the Braves have watched a visiting team celebrate a playoff victory or post-season-clinching win since moving to Turner Field in 1997. ' ' '