SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Al Horford was stellar on the offensive end Tuesday night. His defence on DeMarcus Cousins made the difference, though. Horford had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Paul Millsap had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and the Hawks held off the Sacramento Kings for a 105-100 victory. Horford was largely responsible for Cousins mediocre game. The Kings centre was limited to 11 points and six rebounds. Cousins made his first three shots in the games opening minutes, but didnt score again until getting a three-point play at the 11:21 mark of the fourth quarter. He was then called for three quick fouls early in the fourth, and he went to the bench for good at the midway point of the period. "My teammates did a great job of disrupting him and were digging real well and keeping him off balance," Horford said. "Any given night he can be the best big man in the league. Mentally, I feel hes stronger this season." When asked about Horford, Cousins only reply was, "Next question." Horford received plenty of help from Millsap, a key off-season addition for the Hawks. The two combine to give the Hawks a strong inside presence. That was evident in the fourth quarter when Horford scored 10 points and Millsap had eight, combining for 18 of Atlantas 23 points. "Paul has a knack for scoring late (in the game)," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. "I think both Paul and Al stepped up for us. They are working well off each other." The Hawks (2-2) led by 17 points going into the fourth quarter, but the Kings cut it to three with 32 seconds left. Isaiah Thomas had a chance to tie it with 3 second left but missed a 3-pointer and the Hawks beat the Kings for the 11th straight time, including six straight in Sacramento. Atlanta shared the ball effectively throughout and were getting open looks for much of the game until the final six minutes. The Hawks shot 48 per cent, made eight 3-pointers, and had only six turnovers going into the fourth quarter when they committed eight more in helping to fuel the Kings comeback. "The defence isnt where it should be obviously right now, and we continue to dig ourselves in big holes," Kings coach Mike Malone said. "Every time you do that you have to fight out of it and that takes a lot when youre 19 points down." Jeff Teague, who left the game in the first quarter with an ankle problem, returned in the second and played well, finishing with 18 points and 10 assists for Atlanta. Both Kyle Korver and Cartier Martin had nine apiece. Thomas had 18 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter for the Kings (1-3), who have dropped three straight. Marcus Thornton and Ben McLemore had 15 points and John Salmons added 13. Thomas has made a habit of coming off the bench this season and providing the energy that has the Kings in up-tempo mode on offence and hustling defensively. However, there was no helping the Kings in the second and third quarters when they were outscored 57-33. "We just cant keep doing this to ourselves like we are some great team," Thomas said. "It takes a toll on your whole team. We keep coming back, but its not going to happen every night." Using a suddenly energized defence in the fourth, the Kings scored 11 straight points, cutting the Hawks lead to 96-95 at the 2:45 mark on a fast-break layup by Thomas. When the lead had been reduced to three points at the 3:04 mark, Millsap brought the Hawks together for a little inspirational talk. "It was one of those moments when everything was unraveling," said Millsap, who played the previous seven seasons with Utah. "I told everyone, Lets finish this game. Thats my personality, to lead." Millsap was inspirational with his play as well. With the clock running down and Atlantas lead reduced to one point, he made an 8-footer and added a free throw for a 99-95 lead. After dominating the second quarter, the Hawks controlled the third. Getting numerous open looks against the Kings lacklustredefence, Atlanta went on a 19-6 run for a 75-56 lead at the 4:47 mark. Korver connected on his first 3-point attempt early in third quarter, extending his streak to 77 straight games, the fourth longest in NBA history and one less than third place Dennis Scott. Dana Barros holds the NBA record with 89. Teague scored 14 points and Millsap had 13 in the opening half. The Hawks trailed the entire half until the midway point of the second quarter. They ended up outscoring the Kings 29-13 in the second to take a 54-45 lead into halftime. McLemore had 12 first-half points for the Kings, who had 12 turnovers. The Kings are in the midst of a seven-game stretch in which they play six home games. Their only away game is Friday at Portland. The two teams play again Saturday night in Sacramento. NOTES: Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather was sitting in a courtside seat. ... Kings rookie point guard Ray McCallum dressed for the first time this season, replacing centre Hamady Ndiaye on the active roster. ... Salmons had seven points in the first quarter and the Kings shot 12 of 22 in leading 32-25. ... Atlanta concludes a three-game road trip Thursday night in Denver. Stephen Johns Jersey . The former Toronto FC designated player played three of his 15 professional seasons with the team. Mike Modano Jersey . According to USA Today the Finns have tapped forwards Jarkko Immonen and Sakari Salminen to replace injured forwards Mikko Koivu and Valtteri Filppula at the Sochi Games. http://www.authenticstarspro.com/.Just like old times.Only this time, just one got to enjoy a victory.James return to Miami as an opponent was a success — for the Heat, that is. Wade scored 24 of his 31 points in the first half, Luol Deng had 25 points and dogged James defensively all night, and the Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 101-91 in a hyped Christmas matchup Thursday. Jason Spezza Jersey . -- Adam Tambellini scored three times and set up one more as the Calgary Hitmen won their sixth in a row by crushing the host Lethbridge Hurricanes 8-1 on Saturday in Western Hockey League play. Devin Shore Jersey . -- Jerel Worthy and his Michigan State teammates charged across the field, holding four fingers in the air while celebrating another sweet victory over their biggest rival. TORONTO -- Drew Hutchison has given the Toronto rotation a nice boost this year in his first season back since undergoing Tommy John surgery. He has had troubles at Rogers Centre though and one rough inning proved costly on Wednesday night against New York. Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer in the Yankees four-run third inning as New York (40-37) salvaged the finale of a three-game series with a 5-3 victory. The Yankees ended a four-game losing skid and moved 2 1/2 games behind first-place Toronto (44-36) in the American League East. "I felt I got stronger as the game went on," Hutchison said. "It was disappointing to have that big inning, especially to allow three runs with two outs and not be able to make that big pitch. "It turned out to be the difference in the game." Former Blue Jay Kelly Johnson reached on a walk to open the frame and scored on a Francisco Cervelli double. Hutchison (5-6) got the next two outs before giving up a single to Jacoby Ellsbury that brought Cervelli across with the go-ahead run. Teixeira padded the lead by turning on an 0-1 pitch for his 14th homer of the year. "Hutchison pitched really well, he only made a couple of mistakes that one inning and we made him pay," Teixeira said. "Other than that, he was throwing some dirty pitches. It was good to get the four runs when we got them." Hutchison, a 23-year-old right-hander, has a 4-2 record and 2.23 earned-run average on the road. But he entered play with a 1-3 record and 8.72 ERA at home. "Thats the farthest thing away from my mind," Hutchison said of the uneven splits. "Im disappointed that I was not able to deliver a better performance for us and not give us a better chance to win." New York starter Hiroki Kuroda (5-5) was effective over 6 1/3 innings and David Robertson got the last five outs for his 18th save. Ellsbury had three of New Yorks nine hits. Jose Reyes, who had three hits for Toronto, took the first pitch from Kuroda over the wall for his sixth homer of the season. It was his third leadoff home run of the year and 21st of his career. Reyes scored again in the fifth inning after he moved Munenori Kawasaki to third base with a ground-rule double. Melky Cabrera brought them both home with a sharp single to left field. Hutchison struck out the side in the sixth inning and was replaced in the seventh by left-hander Rob Rasmussen. Hutchison alloowed seven hits, four earned runs and two walks while striking out six.dddddddddddd "Overall I think hes been pretty good (this season) -- actually very good," Gibbons said. "Hes still a young kid. Hes going to go through his growing pains." Rasmussen faced three batters and did not record an out. He walked Brett Gardner, hit Jeter with a pitch, threw a wild pitch to the backstop and walked Ellsbury to load the bases. Sergio Santos came on in relief and gave up a sacrifice fly to Teixeira that brought Gardner home with an insurance run. The Blue Jays had the potential tying run at second base in the eighth inning but Adam Lind hit a weak comebacker that ended the inning. Kuroda allowed eight hits, three earned runs and two walks. He had four strikeouts. Notes: Announced attendance was 34,710 and the game took three hours two minutes to play. ... After the game, Toronto infielder Steve Tolleson said he has been blurred vision over the last two weeks. He plans to see a specialist on Thursday. ... Toronto slugger Jose Bautista missed his third straight game with a hamstring strain. He remains day to day. ... Before the game, the Blue Jays sent Kevin Pillar back to triple-A Buffalo and selected the contract of fellow outfielder Brad Glenn. To make room on the 40-man roster, infielder Jonathan Diaz was designated for assignment. ... Fans who came down early for batting practice got to watch San Franciscos Tim Lincecum complete his no-hitter against San Diego. The ninth inning of the 4-0 game was shown on the video scoreboard. Earlier, the two late-afternoon World Cup soccer games were shown in a split-screen style. ... The Blue Jays will continue their nine-game homestand Thursday with the opener of a four-game set against the Chicago White Sox. Left-hander J.A. Happ (6-4, 4.87) is scheduled to start for Toronto against right-hander Scott Carroll (2-3, 4.30). ... The Blue Jays reached the one-million mark in attendance on Tuesday night. It took 39 home dates to reach the mark this year, six more than last year. ... It was the Blue Jays first series win at home since a three-game sweep of Tampa Bay from May 26-28. ... Toronto has hit at least one homer in seven consecutive games. ... The Yankees get an off-day Thursday -- on Jeters 40th birthday -- before kicking off a six-game homestand Friday against Boston. ... The Blue Jays had an even 40-40 record after 80 games last season. ' ' '