LOS ANGELES -- After getting knocked down in their playoff opener, Blake Griffin and the Clippers answered with a dominant performance in shutting down the
Warriors as soon as the game began.
Andre Branch Dolphins Jersey . Griffin scored a career playoff-high 35 points without a foul and Los Angeles led all the way
in a 138-98 rout Monday night to even their first-round series at a game apiece.
"We were really aggressive on our defence," Griffin said. "When you play more
aggressive you stay out of foul trouble." Chris Paul added 12 points and 10
assists for the Clippers, who started the game on a 14-4 run and kept on going,
maintaining a sizeable double-digit lead through the final three quarters. They
finished with franchise records for points and largest victory margin in a
playoff game. "When we play with that force and thrust, its hard to defend us,"
Paul said. Game 3 is Thursday at Oakland. All the foul trouble that plagued
Griffin and Paul in the Clippers four-point loss in Game 1 belonged to the
Warriors this time. Stephen Curry scored 20 of his 24 points in the third
quarter, when the Warriors never got closer than 25 points, while he played with
four fouls. Klay Thompson finished with seven points -- 15 under his average --
and four fouls. Andre Iguodala, who fouled out of Game 1, and Jermaine ONeal had
four points and three fouls each. The Clippers defence forced 26 turnovers, and
offensively they had their way -- getting out in transition, attacking the rim
and throwing lobs that led to dunks. "We were awful," Warriors coach
Mark Jackson said. "They disrupted us with their intensity. That was a desperate
basketball team we played against." Los Angeles shot 57 per cent, made 12 of 25
3-pointers, hit 32 of 35 free throws for a playoff-record 91 per cent and owned
a 25-13 edge in fastbreak points. "We really kept the game simple. When a guy
had an open shot, he took it. When he didnt, he passed," Clippers coach Doc
Rivers said. "Its very difficult to guard when the ball moves as quickly as it
did." The Clippers lead grew to a 37-point bulge early in the fourth on a
3-pointer by Matt Barnes, their only starter who played albeit briefly in the
final period. He finished with 13 points. Danny Granger had 15 points before
fouling out. DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and nine rebounds. The teams with a
history of bad blood between them jawed in the fourth, when Clippers
Hedo Turkoglu and Glen Davis got into it with Marreese Speights of the Warriors.
Davis and Speights were called for double technicals. The Warriors frustration
boiled over with 42 seconds left when Jordan Crawford was called for a
flagrant-1 for shoving Darren Collison who was bringing the ball upcourt.
Griffin had 21 points in 20 minutes of the first half, one minute more than he
played in the Clippers loss on Saturday. He fouled out of that game, when Paul
was also in foul trouble and made several mistakes in the closing minutes after
the Clippers rallied to tie the game late. "Blake took it when he had it, moved
it when he didnt," Rivers said. "He stayed on the attack, which is what we
wanted. Great mental toughness by Blake. He was phenomenal." The Clippers got
off to a 14-4 start, similar to their 12-1 start of two days ago. This time,
though, the referees whistles were blowing at the Warriors. Thompson, ONeal and
Iguodala all had three each by halftime, when they trailed 67-41. "We came out
with a sense of urgency, but nothing was clicking," Curry said. "They just
outplayed us from start to finish." Golden State had 33 fouls to 22 for the
Clippers. The Clippers outscored Golden State by 11 points in the opening
quarter and by 15 in the second. Curry got double-teamed for the second straight
game, and he struggled offensively, making just one basket and two free throws
in the first half. The Clippers second unit grew the lead from 11 points to 21
in the second, helped by consecutive 3-pointers from Jamal Crawford, Turkoglu
and Granger. The starters came back in and had just four baskets the rest of the
quarter while hitting 9 of 11 free throws to stretch the lead at the break.
"They came in and didnt miss a beat," Griffin said about the reserves. "They
came in and turned up the pressure." Thompson got whistled for his fourth foul
barely a minute into the third. David Lee, who had a double-double in Game 1,
had 11 points. NOTES: Curry got a technical in the third quarter for tossing his
mouth piece. "The score had a lot to do with it," he said. ... Rivers and ONeal
were called for technical fouls in the second quarter. "We were born on the same
day. Two Libras, two stubborn fools," Rivers said. "Me and him are very close,
but not during the game." ... Jordan finished third in voting for the leagues
defensive player of the year. He was third in the league in blocked shots,
averaging 2.48. "Its a great step forward for DeAndre," Rivers said. ...
Longtime Clippers TV announcer Ralph Lawler turned 76 Monday. ... Former Clipper
Chauncey Billups was on hand, along with Billy Crystal.
Jay Ajayi Authentic Jersey . The 155th edition of the Plate for Canadian-foaled three-year-olds, the oldest
continuously run stakes race in North America, will be televised live on TSN in
HD (High Definition) in a special presentation from 4:30 – 6:00 pm ET. Post time
is 5:38 pm.
Jordan Cameron Dolphins Jersey .DeMarco Murray got his 20th carry late in the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead, not
long after Dez Bryant made his final catch of the day.Sure enough, a 44-17 win
over Washington didnt change Dallas post-season position.VANCOUVER - Eddie Lack
helped the Vancouver Canucks overcome a case of the blues Wednesday night. Lack
made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St.
Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. The win was
like sweet music to the Canucks (28-24-9) as they ended their losing streak at
seven games while moving into sole possession of eighth place in the Western
Conference. The Blues (39-13-6) dropped their third straight decision to
Vancouver this season as they were shut out for the first time in 2013-14. "It
feels very good to be able to shut the door," said Lack. "It was very big for
our team. "Its a big relief." The Canucks outshot the Blues 35-20, but Lack,
Vancouvers backup who is in his first full NHL season, was forced to make many
difficult saves. "I feel like I have been working on this start for a while and
I was really excited to play, and Rollie (Melanson, Vancouvers goalie coach) has
been bugging me for weeks saying we need to win these 1-0 games, so its huge,"
said Lack. Jannik Hansen scored the games only goal as he finally broke a
scoreless deadlock at 11:13 of the third period. He took a backhand stretch pass
from Tom Sestito from deep in the Vancouver zone just past centre ice, raced in
on a breakaway and beat Halak with a high shot. It was Hansens first goal in
just over a month, a span of eight games, after he last scored Jan. 26 against
Phoenix. "Great play by Tommy, he could see I was taking off a little early and
he fed me a nice pass, and I was able to get it through the goalie," said
Hansen. "You dont have to look at the standings very long to see we need to win
a lot of games here to make the playoffs, and its obviously a very strong
opponent today, a playoff team. These are the teams you have to beat. We cant
just beat the teams below us." Vancouver was blanked on four power plays while
St. Louis failed to score on three. Lack drew the start after backstopping the
Canucks to a pair of wins over St. Louis earlier this season. Three of his nine
wins have come against the Blues, and he has allowed only three goals to them.
The Canucks came out with the added aggression that coach John Tortorella has
been seeking as they outshot the Blues 14-6 in the first period. But for most of
the night, the hosts could not beat a steady Halak, who felt fresh after playing
just two games for Slovakia in the Olympics and getting plenty of rest after
arriving back in St. Louis last Thursday. "It was a pretty good pace for 60
minutes," said Halak. "It was just that we came up short. We couldnt score. "I
tried to do my best. I tried to give the guys a chance to win. Id like to get
(Hansens goal) back." St. Louis had nine players in Sochi and the Canucks hhad
seven.
Ryan Tannehill Dolphins Jersey. But Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who served as an assistant with Canadas gold-medal-winning
team, did not think post-Olympic fatigue was a factor. "It was a hard fought,
well played game for the most part," said Hitchcock. "I didnt think we had the
energy in the third period than we did in the end of the first and the second.
We had a great second period. But weve had trouble beating (Lack.) We havent
scored on him, and hes made some big saves and hes won a lot of the scrambles.
We had all the penetration in the second period for all the scoring chances."
Hitchcock lamented his teams inability to score on odd-man rushes in two losses
in Vancouver this season. "When you get two-on-ones and three-on-ones on the
road, youve got to capitalize," he said. "I think that was the difference in the
hockey game." Lacks best moments came late in the second period as he denied
Blues captain David Backes on a one-timer during a delayed penalty and Alex
Steen on a deflection, and got his pad on a T.J. Oshie shot before defenceman
Alex Edler blocked the puck as he attempted to put in the rebound. After the
save, fans chanted "Eddie! Eddie!" But Oshie, who played for the U.S. in the
Olympics, was not willing to give Lack too much credit. "He made some good
saves, but I dont think we really tested him like we could have," said Oshie.
"We let him see a lot of pucks." There was no denying Vancouvers desperation
though. "Theyre a desperate team right now," said Halak. "For them, every game
is a playoff game. They need to get every point that they can." Notes: Olympians
from both teams were honoured in a pre-game ceremony. Blues defencemen
Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo drew loud cheers from the crowd when they
were saluted, along with Canucks defenceman Dan Hamhuis and goaltender
Roberto Luongo, for helping Canada win the 2014 Olympic gold medal. … Tortorella
worked his first home game since receiving a six-game suspension for storming
the Calgary Flames dressing room area Jan. 18. … Canucks captain Henrik Sedin
returned to action after suffering an undisclosed injury before the Olympics. He
missed the past two practices while tending to a personal matter in Sweden, but
returned Wednesday in time for the game. Defenceman Kevin Bieksa returned after
missing five games before the Olympic break with a foot injury. … Vancouver
centre Ryan Kesler sat out with a hand injury suffered while playing for the
U.S. in the Olympics. Canucks defencemen Chris Tanev (thumb) and Andrew Alberts
(concussion) remained out. … Blues defenceman Jordan Leopold missed the game due
to an ankle injury. He was replaced by Carlo Colaiacovo.
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