miaowang123: later in the period to give Miami a 19-17 l

later in the period to give Miami a 19-17 l

18 Dec 2019 at 00:15

LOS ANGELES -- Chris Pauls teammates figure he might need more time to fully recover from his role in one of the ugliest playoff collapses in NBA history. Custom Vegas Golden Knights Jerseys . With the Los Angeles Clippers season riding on Game 6, Paul knows he doesnt have that luxury. The Oklahoma City Thunder are back at Staples Center on Thursday night, and the Clippers must shelve their memories of the mistakes late in Game 5 that cost them a chance to close out the series at home. Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford went to work on Pauls mind on the bus ride to their flight home from Oklahoma City after the Clippers blew a 13-point lead in just over four minutes. The fiasco culminated in the All-Star point guards touch foul on Russell Westbrook to set up the winning free throws, sandwiched between two brutal turnovers by Paul -- all in the final 14 seconds. "He was visibly upset, and I told him that game is not on one guy," Griffin said Wednesday at the Clippers training complex. "Its not on him. We made plenty of mistakes down the stretch, plenty of mistakes throughout the game that could ultimately change the outcome. That idea that the game is on him, you understand what hes saying, but its not on him by any means. We still have two games left to play." The Clippers roller coaster of a post-season has careened into another valley after the Thunder stormed back from near-certain defeat with the help of Pauls mistakes and a much-debated out-of-bounds call with 11.3 seconds left. Clippers coach Doc Rivers hadnt changed his opinion one day after declaring the Clippers "were robbed" on that call, although he said he wont file any formal protest. The NBA issued a statement Wednesday night saying the call was made correctly in the absence of clear evidence to change it on replay review. Paul still appeared glum, giving short, clipped answers to questions about his turnovers and the Clippers ability to bounce back in Game 6. "I woke up this morning with a beautiful wife and two beautiful kids," Paul said. "At the end of the day, it is basketball, but theres a lot of guys livelihoods who depend on it, so Ive got to do my part." After three weeks of a circus atmosphere around the Clippers, Rivers still believes his young team has gathered enough resilience to force the series back to Oklahoma City for a deciding game. The Clippers played 43 outstanding minutes in Game 5 to reach the brink of what could have been a benchmark victory in a shift of the Western Conference hierarchy, only to let it slip away. Rivers thinks its a lesson the Clippers needed. "You dont win it easy," Rivers said. "Were trying to do something special here and be something special. And if youre trying to stand out in any job, its going to be hard. Youre going to face adversity, and youve just got to accept that thats part of the process. Yeah, this is hard. Its supposed to be. And thats the only thing I told our guys. Whats going on right now is exactly what should happen to win. You have to go through stuff to win, and youve just got to deal with it." The Thunder travelled to the West Coast on Wednesday with a bit of house money after the comeback by Westbrook and Kevin ;Durant, who combined for 17 of Oklahoma Citys 19 points in the final 9 1/2 minutes while Los Angeles fumbled, stumbled and finally crashed. Oklahoma City could advance to its third Western Conference final in four years with a victory in Game 6. But the Thunder also recall their own collapse in Game 4 at Staples Center, where they blew a 16-point lead with nine minutes left last weekend. Game 5 told coach Scott Brooks plenty about his teams tenacity. "I like the fact that we did that after the game before," Brooks said. "We had a lot of opportunities to win that game." Neither team has been significantly better in this series: Los Angeles has cumulatively outscored the Thunder 540-539 through five games, with Oklahoma Citys two-man offensive game countering the Clippers more balanced attack. But even after the exhaustion of a seven-game first-round series with Golden State and the continuing drama surrounding owner Donald Sterlings lifetime ban, the Clippers leaders think theyve still got more fight. "I think weve done a pretty good job this season and in the post-season of putting things in the past and just moving forward," said Griffin, who leads the Clippers with 24.2 points per game in the series. Golden Knights Jerseys 2020 . Whenever United loses, its crisis.  When other top teams slip up, its the quirky nature of the Premier League.  The predictable reaction speaks to the sky-high expectations for a team proven perennial contender and 13 times Premier League champion. Vegas Golden Knights Gear . Sopoaga hit the upright with his first shot at goal from 15 metres. He then kicked nine goals in succession -- two conversions and seven penalties -- before being replaced in the 62nd minute, three points short of the Highlanders record for most points in a match.Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Wilson Chandler scored 17 points and the Denver Nuggets snapped a four-game losing skid with a 102-82 rout of the Miami Heat on Wednesday. The Nuggets turned a 48-48 halftime score into a comfortable lead thanks to a dominant third quarter. Chandler set the tone with a jumper less than a minute in. Ty Lawson followed with five straight points and J.J. Hicksons putback layup forced a Miami timeout. Denver continued to expand its lead, with Timofey Mozgovs three-point play with just over a minute remaining in the period making it 72-59. Erick Green beat the buzzer with a deep 3, and the Nuggets took a 79-62 lead into the fourth. Once again, we keep a team under 100 points, said Nuggets coach Brian Shaw. The margin reached 27 in the final period, as Denver rode its reserves to the finish line. Arron Afflalo scored 16 points while Lawson tallied 10 points and nine assists for the Nuggets. Kenneth Faried netted 13 with eight rebounds in his return to the court and Green scored a career-high 11 poinnts. Vegas Golden Knights Shirts. Im still young, but every day I try to show I can hold my own, Green said. Chris Bosh paced Miami with 14 points and Norris Cole finished with six points, eight assists and eight boards in the humbling defeat. The Heat have lost five of six. Offensively, we didnt get the ball where it needed to go, Bosh said. We didnt work the offense much. Denver led 16-4 early on before the Heat rattled off nine in a row. Luol Deng sandwiched a Cole layup later in the period to give Miami a 19-17 lead, but the Nuggets responded and led 22-21 after one. Darrell Arthurs four-point play highlighted an 8-0 run to start the second, but again the Heat stormed back. Dengs jumper at the buzzer tied the score at the half. Game Notes Faried missed the last two games with a back injury and came off the bench for the first time this season in his return ... Chandler has scored in double figures in 16 straight games ... Miami shot just 30-for-82 from the floor while Denver made 38-of-85. ' ' '



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