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Thursday's results NBA At A Glance By The Associated Press EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB New York 8 2 .800 — Brooklyn 6 4 .600 2 Philadelphia 7 5 .583 2 Boston 6 6 .500 3 Toronto 3 9 .250 6 Southeast Division WL Pct GB 9 3 .750 — Miami Atlanta 6 4 .600 2 Charlotte 6 4 .600 2 Orlando 4 7 .364 4 1/2 Washington 0 10 .000 8 Central Division WL Pct GB Milwaukee 6 4 .600 — Indiana 6 7 .462 1 1/2 Chicago 5 6 .455 1 1/2 Cleveland 3 8 .273 3 1/2 Detroit 2 10 .167 5 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division WL Pct GB Memphis 8 2 .800 — San Antonio 9 3 .750 — Dallas 7 6 .538 2 1/2 Houston 5 7 .417 4 New Orleans3 7 .300 5 Northwest Division WL Pct GB Okla. City 9 3 .750 — Denver 6 6 .500 3 Utah 6 6 .500 3 Minnesota 5 5 .500 3 Portland 5 6 .455 3 1/2 Pacific Division WL Pct GB L.A. Clippers8 3 .727 — Warriors 7 5 .583 1 1/2 L.A. Lakers 6 6 .500 2 1/2 Phoenix 5 7 .417 3 1/2 Kings 3 8 .273 5 On the tube Friday, Nov. 23 AUTO RACING 8 a.m. SPEED — Formula One, practice for Grand Prix of Brazil, at Sao Paulo COLLEGE FOOTBALL 8 a.m. ESPN2 — Syracuse at Temple 9 a.m. ABC — Nebraska at Iowa 11:30 a.m. CBS — LSU at Arkansas Noon FX — Utah at Colorado 12:30 p.m. ABC — West Virginia at Iowa St. FOX — Washington at Washington St. 4 p.m. ESPN — South Florida at Cincin- nati 7 p.m. ESPN — Arizona St. at Arizona GOLF Midnight TGC — European PGA Tour, DP World Tour Championship, third round, at Dubai, United Arab Emi- rates Rodgers a big test for Giants' defense By Art Stapleton The Record (Hackensack, N.J.) (MCT) EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Kenny Phillips was being honest, not talking smack. When the Giants step on the field Sunday night and stare across the line of scrimmage at Aaron Rodgers, the quest to beat the reigning NFL MVP will come down to intimidation. On presence alone, Rodgers puts the best of defenses on its heels from the first snap. The challenge facing the Giants is finding a way to neutralize Rodgers, which they did so well defensively in a stunningly impressive 37-20 playoff victory at Green Bay's Lambeau Field on the way to Super Bowl XLVI. "I think he can be rattled. I think any quarterback can be rattled," Phillips said. "But it's definitely going to start with our guys up front. They did a great job last season against them, so looking for that same effort from those guys and we should have a good day." Phillips' confidence notwithstand- ing, the Giants certainly know what they're up against. Justin Tuck called Rodgers "the tick and the tock in that offense," dis- agreeing somewhat with the notion that the licking the Giants put on the Packers 10 months ago had some- thing to do with Green Bay's star quarterback being "rattled." Sure, Rodgers took his share of punishment that night as the Giants sacked him four times and registered five additional hits, taking the Packers out of their offensive rhythm. "I don't know if he's intimidated, and we're definitely not intimidated about playing against top-notch competi- tion," Chris Canty said. "He's a terrific quarterback. He makes plays in the pocket, outside the pocket, he extends plays, he extends drives with his legs, with his arm — he can do it all. So we understand the challenge that this represents." As the Giants are coming off a pair of losses prior to a bye week that sup- posedly has rejuvenated them, Rodgers and the Packers are picking up steam. Green Bay brings a five-game win- ning streak into Sunday's prime-time showdown at MetLife Stadium, and is looking for a bit of redemption from last year's postseason against a Giants team still desperate to restore its pass-rushing dominance. "I sense that, as far as the respect factor goes, I think offensive linemen and coordinators still do different things against us protection-wise, hard count or whatever it may be," Tuck said. "But we haven't played to our level consistently. We've had games where we've played pretty good and we've had games where we're almost non-existent. "I think there's a lot of pressure on us to get back to playing our style of football up front." If not, Rodgers could make it a long evening under the lights for the Giants. "He's definitely one of those guys where, if he gets going, he's going to be hard to stop," Phillips said."So we definitely have to get to him early ... and if you let him get going, yeah, (Rodgers can intimidate a defense)." Rodgers is the league's top-rated passer (107.3) with 27 touchdown passes, second most in the NFL behind Drew Brees' 28. "He's played in a lot of big-time games and played well in a lot of big- time games," Tuck said. "He's gotten hit a lot in certain games and come out and take your heart at the end of the game. "But rattle him? I don't think so. I hope I'm wrong.I hope we can." That could end up as the difference between winning and losing such a big game. Texans top Lions 34-31 in OT Sports DETROIT (AP) — The Houston Texans took advantage of a big mistake by Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz. yard field goal with 2:21 left overtime lifted Houston to a 34-31 win over Detroit on Thursday after Schwartz broke an NFL rule on a scoring play. Shayne Graham's 32- Detroit kicker Jason Hanson had a chance to get Schwartz off the hook, but his 47-yard field goal attempt on the fifth posses- sion of the extra period hit the right upright. Schwartz threw a chal- lenge flag when Houston's Justin Forsett scored on an 81-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Replays showed Forsett was down near midfield, but Schwartz negated the automatic review by challenging the play and was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. ''It's on me,'' Schwartz said to his assistant coaches and players on the sideline as he tapped his chest. ''It's on me.'' Yes, it was. That touchdown pulled Houston within three points counted and Schwartz was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. Arian Foster ran for 102 yards and two scores, including a 1-yard run with 1:55 left in the fourth quar- ter to cap a 15-play, 97-yard drive that took 5:43 off the clock and tied the game at 31. 1B Friday November 23, 2012 MCT photo Houston Texans running back Arian Foster scores the game-tying touchdown past the Detroit Lions' Lawrence Jackson late in the fourth quarter at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.,Thursday. AFC South-leading Houston (10-1) took its first lead when Graham made up for missing a field goal ear- lier in a turnover-filled OT. The Texans have won five straight — two in a row in OT — and if a handful of teams lose they could be in the playoffs by the time they get back on the practice field after a long weekend. Detroit (4-7) has lost three straight to make it extremely difficult to reach its goal of earning a spot in consecutive postseasons for the first time since the mid- 1990s. have enough problems, defensive Ndamukong Suh could be in trouble with the league again after his left cleat con- nected with Matt Schaub's groin area in the first quar- ter. It wasn't clear on replays Thursday whether it was intentional, but it might be tough for Suh to get the benefit of doubt. Suh was on his chest, And as if the Lions don't tackle taken down by an offensive lineman, when he extended his left foot below Schaub's belt. Last year on Thanksgiv- ing, Suh was ejected for stomping on the right arm of Green Bay offensive line- man Evan Dietrich-Smith and was suspended for two games. He has been fined in previous seasons for rough- ing up quarterbacks: Cincinnati's Andy Dalton, Chicago's Jay Cutler and Cleveland's Jake Del- homme. and was 29 of 48 for 315 yards with 9-yard TD to Owen Daniels to tie the game at 14 late in the first half. Houston's Andre John- son had nine receptions for 188 yards. J.J. Watt had three sacks, one on Detroit's first snap and the other two that helped the Texans stay within a TD late in the game. Schaub shook off the blow, stayed in the game, and had a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter. Detroit scored four go- ahead TDs, including on Joique Bell's 23-yard run early in the fourth quarter, The Lions drove deep enough into Houston terri- tory to put Hanson in a posi- tion to give them a 10-point lead, but Watt forced them to punt each time with sacks on third downs. Matthew Stafford was 31 of 61 for 441 yards with two TDs — tiebreaking scores to Calvin Johnson and Mike Thomas in the second quar- ter — for 441 yards and an interception. Griffin shines, Redskins hold off Cowboys Welcome back to Texas, RG3. Robert Griffin III threw for 311 yards and four touchdowns, help- ing the Washington Redskins beat the Dallas Cowboys 38-31 on Thursday. ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Heisman Trophy winner from Baylor made the Cowboys look like an overmatched college team during the decisive second quarter in Griffin's first pro game in his home state. He got some help from his receivers, including a leaping grab and long run from Pierre Garcon and some nifty footwork in the end zone by San- tana Moss. Tony Romo lost for the first time in six starts on Thanksgiving, despite a career-high 441 yards and three second-half touch- downs, including the longest of his career — an 85-yarder to Dez Bryant. Romo ran in a 2-point conversion after a TD throw to Felix Jones and threw another scoring pass to Bryant to help Dallas close to 35-28 with 8:24 remaining. But Griffin answered — twice, actually. After Romo's long touchdown to Bryant, Griffin threw his fourth scoring pass, a 29-yarder to Niles Paul. The rook- ie became the first Redskins quar- terback to throw four touchdown passes in consecutive games. After the Cowboys pulled within a touchdown, Griffin drove them into scoring position again, calmly completing three passes for first downs and running 5 1/2 minutes off the clock before Kai Forbath made it 38-28 on a 48- yard field goal. Dallas drove to a field goal, but DeAngelo Hall easily picked up the onside kick and ran untouched before sliding down short of the MCT photo Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Wilson (26) dislodges the ball from Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant (88) after a pass reception in the second quarter at Cowboys Stadi- um in Arlington,Texas,Thursday. goal line, clinching Romo's third loss in three career 400-yard games. It also was the Cowboys' first loss to the Redskins in seven games on Thanksgiving. The Cowboys (5-6) actually contained Griffin in the first quar- ter, getting a sack and forcing an intentional grounding penalty that gave them good enough field posi- tion for an easy drive to a 3-0 lead. Everything changed on Grif- fin's first big NFL play in Texas. He hit Aldrick Robinson in stride for a 68-yard touchdown and a 7- 3 lead to spark the first 28-point quarter in 13 years for the Red- skins (5-6). Griffin's next big throw wasn't nearly as accurate, but Garcon somehow came down with it and outran the Dallas defense the final 45 yards on a 59-yard score for a 21-3 lead. Romo's first interception in four games gave the Redskins a chance to get one more score before halftime when DeAngelo Hall returned it to the Dallas 33 with 30 seconds left. Out of time- outs at the Dallas 6 with 10 sec- onds left, the Redskins trusted Griffin to try to get a touchdown, and Moss kept both feet in while falling out of bounds for a 28-3 lead with 5 seconds left. Griffin completed 12 straight passes from the middle of the first quarter to the middle of the third and finished 20 of 28. It was hard to tell with his final numbers, but the Cowboys did manage to put some pressure on Griffin. They sacked him four times, forced him to sprint out of the pocket a number of times and delivered hard hits after several throws.