LOS ANGELES, Calif.
St. Louis Cardinals Michael Wacha Jersey . - The Atlanta Hawks just keep rolling on the road.They pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 107-98 Monday night and earn their seventh straight road victory for the first time in 21 years.They have been doing it by building double-digit leads on opponents floors.We really cant control the crowd and a lot of stuff, so we just go out there and do the best we can, said Al Horford, who had 16 points for the East-leading Hawks. Coach always stresses the importance of defending and rebounding, and I feel like weve been doing a good job of that.Paul Millsap scored 23 points, Jeff Teague added 20, and DeMarre Carroll had 17 points and eight rebounds in Atlantas fifth straight win overall and 19th in 21 games.Right now, Atlanta has unshakable confidence, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.Not so for the Clippers, who fell to 7-10 against teams that currently have winning records.Defensively, we have no presence, said Chris Paul, who had 10 points and 10 assists before fouling out with 1:50 to play.Blake Griffin had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Clippers, whose biggest lead of nine came at the start of the game. DeAndre Jordan added 15 points and 16 rebounds, and J.J. Redick had 14 points as the teams three-game winning streak ended.If we knew exactly what we need to address, Griffin said, hesitating to find the words. Its just not something we can snap our fingers and fix.Dennis Schroders driving layup gave the Hawks the games first double-digit lead, 82-72, early in the fourth. It came near the start of an 18-6 run that extended their advantage to 95-78, largest of the game. Schroder had seven points, Pero Antic five, and Millsap four in the spurt.We werent executing and making good decisions early, but our defence put us in a position where we could kind of hang around and keep it at six or eight, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. We made a little run at the end of the second quarter, then the defence maintained its place, and offensively we got into a little bit of a rhythm.The Clippers committed six of their season-high 21 turnovers in the fourth, when the Hawks had one. Atlanta shot 48 per cent from 3-point range, and the Clippers were held to 28 per cent.We missed a lot of open shots and were very lax with the ball, Rivers said. We lost the game because we turned the ball over and gave them easy shots. We were forcing a lot of passes.Griffin made one of two free throws to tie it 67-all late in the third before the Hawks scored 10 of the last 12 points to take a 77-69 lead going into the fourth. Carroll had six in the spurt. Griffin and Paul both picked up their fourth fouls in the quarter when the Clippers briefly led by two.The Clippers turnovers led to 23 points by the Hawks, who came in averaging 26.5 in four previous games.TIP-INSHawks: They had 13 steals. ... The last time they won seven straight road games was Nov. 17-Dec. 22, 1993. ... Their bench was 1 for 12 from the field in the first half. ... Atlanta has won eight straight against West foes, equaling their streak from Oct. 31-Nov. 18, 1997. ... They snapped a three-game skid against the Clippers at Staples Center. ... They won the season series 2-0, having taken a three-point victory at home less than two weeks ago.Clippers: Former Laker Dennis Rodman sat behind the teams bench. ... They shot 50 per cent from the field in the opening quarter before dipping to 36 per cent in the second. ... Informed that he remains Atlantas franchise assists leader with 3,866, Rivers joked, Atlanta has not had a lot of good players. Rivers played for the Hawks from 1983-91 at the start of his NBA career.SHOOTIN SCHRODERSchroder had all seven of his points in the fourth after going 0 of 4 in the first half.Its great for him as a young player to stick with it, Budenholzer said. Hes a very confident young man, and he made some big plays. He also did well defensively. Were trying to do it as a team, and different guys at different moments are finding ways to help us.SEARCHING CLIPPERSLike Griffin, Jordan cant quite put his finger on why the Clippers struggle against the NBAs best teams especially defensively.You see it in spurts of us having the right tools to be a defensive team, Jordan said. Then theres times where we look like we dont know what were doing.UP NEXTHawks: Host Memphis on Wednesday.Clippers: Host Lakers on Wednesday.
Los Angeles Dodgers Justin Turner Jersey . LaQuinton Ross scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, hitting his first four 3-pointers, to send No.
New York Mets David Wright Jersey . - Anthony Beauvillier had the winning goal in the third period as the Shawinigan Cataractes edged the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 2-1 on Wednesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play.Before tonights Toronto Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre, when the American League East leaders host last years National League pennant winners, the St. Louis Cardinals, the team will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the opening of the SkyDome. Jays legends Jimmy Key and Ernie Whitt, members of playoff and World Series-winning teams of the past, will be on hand for the festivities to look back at what was the beginning of the Jays halcyon years. The return of these former stars comes at an apt time. For fans of the Blue Jays, its starting to feel a lot like those glory days again. Heading into Fridays game, the Jays sit at 37-24 with a five-and-a-half-game lead on the second-place Baltimore Orioles. The last team the Blue Jays held such a lead atop the division was in 1985, the year of their first-ever AL East triumph. Its easy to see why theres excitement surrounding this Jays team, but before everybody goes and books their flights to San Francisco for the World Series in October, lets step back and take a good look at these Toronto Blue Jays. Is it time to stop saying "Well, its early" and officially deem them contenders? Is the 2014 version of the Jays just the 2013 one that was expected all along, but a year late on arrival? Or will reality catch up with a team that is currently playing above its station? Friday night marks Game 62, and an even 100 games remain in the regular season. While its not exactly the halfway mark, its as good a time as any to reflect on the interesting dichotomy of the Jays season, thus far. Obviously, there have been plenty of key performances from the top of the roster on down. Mark Buehrle leads the league in wins with 10 and has a paltry 2.10 ERA. Edwin Encarnacion launched 16 jacks in May and made every at-bat a must-see event. Jose Bautista is in the midst of an MVP-calibre season. Melky Cabrera has bouunced back from offseason surgery and looks headed to another All-Star Game.
St. Louis Cardinals Ozzie Smith Jersey. Jose Reyes once again looks like the catalyst he was for the New York Mets. Picked up from the Milwaukee Brewers scrap heap, Juan Francisco is one of the five Jays with double-digit home run totals. There is a lot to like right now. But before the Jays were sweeping the likes of the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics and tearing the cover off the baseball with reckless abandon and going 17-4 over its last 21 games, this team was once a very average 20-20. Its bullpen is still second-last in the bigs with a 4.62 ERA, having surrendered a league-worst 97 earned runs. Now second in the AL with 19 home runs, Encarnacion couldnt buy a hit in April and had just two homers. Reyes, Adam Lind and Casey Janssen missed significant time. Brandon Morrow and Colby Rasmus are down again. There were red flags all over this team not that long ago, but those have been seemingly swept aside in a tidal wave of power-hitting and timely pitching. Has this changed your expectations for the rest of the year? With April and early May indicating that the team was headed for another year of mediocrity, the fact that the Jays are division-leaders with the third-best record in baseball in June is quite frankly shocking. But wasnt this the Toronto Blue Jays team that was promised last season after a winter of major trades and free agent acquisitions? Maybe this run that the Jays are on isnt the aberration. Perhaps, last season and the beginning of this year was the outlier. Regardless of why its happening and how long it will last, the Blue Jays are currently playing meaningful baseball and its a welcome change for fans starving for a winner. So with 100 games left in 2014, just who are these Toronto Blue Jays and what happens from here on out? As always, its Your Call!
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