AHMEDABAD --- It was the second half that won India the Kabaddi World Cup final on Saturday.Perhaps lulled a bit by their thumping 73-20 win over Thailand a day before, the hosts struggled to crack the Iranian defence in the first half. Fazel Atrachali marshalled Irans players in their half and kept Pardeep Narwal from scoring. Iranian captain Meraj Sheykh used his reflexes well to keep the raid points coming even as Ajay Thakur seemed to struggle for India.At half-time the hosts were 18-13 behind. The pressure was telling.But minutes into the second half, Thakur got going. His team trailing 19-14 and with only four members left, Thakur went on a raid, scored two points and reduced Iran to three players. In the next minute, he scored another raid point to level the score at 20-20.India were back in the game.After another successful raid by Thakur in the 29th minute, India inflicted their first all-out and took a 24-21 lead. It was the first time they were ahead in the second half.With Thakur taking charge of the attack, India experimented with their defence as they brought in Surjeet Singh to replace Manjeet Chhillar. The hosts also tried to keep Irans stronger players -- Sheykh and Abozar Mighani in attack and Atracheli in defence -- on the bench.The change in defence and strategy both clicked -- and India continued to lead from there on. Surjeet, who did not play in the semi-final, impressed with his tackles from the right.Iran, after looking dominant in the first half, fell short in the second.Thakur utilized his height well during the raids to get hand touches and increase Indias lead. Nitin Tomar, who too came on in the second half, scored six raid points -- his best performance of the tournament.In the final few minutes, a raid from Sheykh narrowed Indias edge to 34-27. In their group-stage loss to South Korea, India had conceded seven points in the last three minutes. This time, however, captain Anup Kumar kept his team calm and patient, preventing Iranian raiders from scoring.And though it wasnt as easy as it had been in 2004 and 2007 for them, India completed a hat-trick of World Cup wins. Wholesale Nike Zoom NZ Free Shipping . Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN. Cheap Nike Zoom NZ Store . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for Finland (1-1-0) Lindell opened the scoring for Finland just 41 seconds into the game, but the hosts quickly regained their composure and tied the score less than four minutes later on Wennbergs first of the game. http://www.discountnikezoomnz.com/ . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. Nike Zoom NZ Sale . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. Cheap Nike Shoes NZ From China . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. HOUSTON -- This might be the last best chance for the man with the West Virginia drawl who speaks fluent Italian.Houston Rockets coach Mike DAntoni, who turned 65 in May and is best known for his Seven Seconds or Less teams in Phoenix, says he has reached an age where time can start running out.While seemingly everybody else is using a variation of DAntonis up-tempo offense to chase NBA titles, he feels its his turn this season.Anyone who has watched an NBA game recently knows the offensive recipe -- find a point guard to push the tempo and plop a power forward at the 3-point line rather than in the post. DAntonis system utilizes pace and space, filling the court with shooters rather than worrying about standard definitions of positions. ?Some were critical of the game-changing offense when it debuted back in 2004. Now its all the rage.It gets buckets, James Harden said.Ive stole from it, first-year Memphis coach David Fizdale said. Hes the modern-day godfather of pace. Pace and space.DAntoni once had two-time MVP Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion and Leandro Barbosa running his dizzying schemes in the desert. Now he has Harden playing the role of Nash with Ryan Anderson, Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza as the shooters.But the dream remains the same: win that elusive NBA title. DAntoni feels the Rockets team that opens the season against the Lakers on Wednesday night in Los Angeles is the most talented group he has had in years.Without a doubt, not even close, DAntoni said. Not even close.The path to a title is made even tougher because his own offensive principles are being used by several contenders.Golden State is the heavy favorite in the West after two straight trips to the NBA Finals, but San Antonio, the L.A. Clippers, Memphis and Portland all have teams expected to stand in the way of the Rockets, who made the playoffs last season as the Wests No. 8 seed. Even younger teams such as Utah and Minnesota could push for middle-class status in the crowded Western Conference race.And who knows what New Orleans might be capable of doing with one of DAntonis assistant coaches, Alvin Gentry, using portions of the offense with a healthy Anthony Davis?Houston is coming off a disappointing 41-win season in which owner Leslie Alexander made what turned out to be a short-term coaching change early on before settling on DAntoni this offseason. Seven Seconds or Less had left an impression on Alexander.We wanted to play this way for years, Alexander said.Part of this way is using big men as shooters, something teams such as the Warriors, Clippers, Pelicans and Grizzlies are doing. In the East, Knicks second-year big man Kristaps Porzingis doesnt hesitate to take outside shots.There were guys before him in the history of the game that played at a really high speed, Fizdale said. He really brought back small ball, space and pace, organized chaos. He brought that to the forefront, and a lot of teams are really picking from his system to implement into theirs.I have a lot of respect for Coach DAntoni -- just one of the class acts of this league,, willing to share, and hes had an impact in this league in a big way.dddddddddddd I hate that I got to play against him.In the preseason, Houston led the league with 118.6 points per game and a 111.1 offensive rating.Coaches do what they believe in and teach what they can teach, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. We run motion because thats all I feel comfortable teaching, and [DAntoni] is doing that and Golden State is doing what they do and Orlando is doing what they do, and everybody. We all borrow a little bit from each other -- its kind of a copycat sort of deal. Teams are big teams [or] are small teams [or] are running teams [or] are holding the ball. It goes in phases.Mike has been very consistent. He likes that pace and his teams do a great job of running it; [its] hard to handle.The roster put together in Houston this season doesnt appear to have the issues his most recent teams had after he was fired in Phoenix, where he enjoyed a four-year stretch that included two 60-plus-win seasons, two 50-plus-win seasons and two Western Conference finals appearances.Do I think he got credit for what he did? No, said Dan DAntoni, Mikes older brother and the head coach at Marshall. Thats me personally -- thats not coming from him, thats me.The post-Suns years have been tough on Mike DAntoni. In four seasons as coach of the New York Knicks, he made only one playoff appearance and couldnt get Carmelo Anthony to fully buy into the up-tempo offense. DAntoni was able, however, to create a stir with the unexpected rise of Jeremy Lin. During an 11-game stretch in February 2012, Lin stunned the league and thrilled fans by averaging 23.9 points and 9.2 assists.But DAntoni stepped down from the Knicks job in March 2012 as he was headed to a third losing season in four years.He followed that up with two years at the Lakers helm, teaming up with a still-feisty Kobe Bryant and reuniting with an older Nash. The Lakers also added Dwight Howard in what appeared to be a powerful team on paper. But Howard endured health problems and didnt mesh with Bryant, who tore his Achilles at the end of the 2012-13 season and played just six games in 2013-14. Nash missed 99 games in two seasons.DAntoni won 40 games in his first season with the Lakers before a 27-win 2013-14 season ended his tenure.Taking the reins in Houston presents another chance for the game-changing coach, this time with a healthy star, Harden, who is in his prime. And while the clock might be ticking, DAntoni also knows thats life in the NBA.Every coach is the same, DAntoni said. You can be in a big market or a little market; you put a lot of pressure on yourself and the franchise and everything. You want to do well for the fans, the players. Ive got a lot of players who want to have career years. The pressure is always there -- thats just part of coaching.Its what you deal with and it gets you out of bed in the morning, it gets you going. Its fun, the battle to compete. ' ' '