Bewerbungen » points and 10 assists for the Clippers.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- After four straight blowout victories, the Los Angeles Clippers learned they can handle business in a close game.Blake Griffin scored 25 points, and the Clippers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 110-108 on Friday night to improve the leagues top record and the best start in franchise history to 8-1.Oklahoma Citys Russell Westbrook missed what would have been a game-winning 3-pointer in the closing seconds.The Clippers had won their previous four games by an average of 24.5 points, so coach Doc Rivers wasnt sure how his team would handle a game with a tight finish. Los Angeles focused on slowing Westbrook, who burned them for 35 points in Oklahoma Citys 85-83 win in Los Angeles earlier in the month that gave the Clippers their only loss so far.Even though Andre Roberson and Domantas Sabonis found their shooting strokes as the Thunder made 16 of 28 3-pointers, the Clippers stuck to their defensive game plan.This is one of those games you can lose your trust in, Rivers said. Roberson was making 3s, Sabonis was making 3s, and were telling our guys to stay and clog the paint. And theyre looking at me like, `Why? We did it, and it worked out for us.Jamal Crawford scored 19 points and Chris Paul added 17 points and 10 assists for the Clippers.Westbrook had 29 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, but he made just 9 of 25 shots. Victor Oladipo scored 18 points, Enes Kanter had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Roberson added 13 points and nine rebounds for Oklahoma City (6-3).The game was tied at 50 at halftime. The Clippers went on an 8-1 run early in the third quarter, highlighted by a spinning layup and 3-pointer by J.J. Redick, to go up 65-56. Griffin had 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting in the period to help the Clippers take an 82-74 lead in the fourth.I think our offense, spacing-wise, was really good, Griffin said. We attacked more, got out in transition, got some rebounds. Defensive stops led to some easy buckets.Westbrook tied the game at 102 with a 3-pointer with just over 2 minutes remaining, but the Clippers responded with a dunk by DeAndre Jordan and a 3-pointer by Crawford.The Thunder rallied again, but Westbrooks 28-footer was just off in the final seconds.Yeah, I probably should have drove it, but it was all right, Westbrook said.---TIP-INSClippers: Committed just five turnovers in each half. ... Jordan had 12 points and 13 rebounds. ... Jordan was called for a technical foul early in the third quarter.Thunder: Held the Clippers to 22.7 percent shooting in the first quarter to take a 24-16 lead. ... Oladipo scored 11 points in the first quarter. ... Westbrook was called for a technical after he disagreed with a foul call early in the third period. ... Roberson set a new career high with three 3-point goals. ... Sabonis made 4 of 5 3-pointers.HAPPY HOMECOMINGGriffin, an Oklahoma City native, has been booed in the past because hes been a thorn in the Thunders side. Now, with Kevin Durant gone, the fans have dreams of landing him in free agency. They showered Griffin with cheers during pregame introductions, which surprised him.A little bit, but its always nice to come back home, he said.QUOTABLEPaul, on how he guarded Westbrook: I did a lot differently tonight guarding Russ, he said. I didnt. It was Luc Mbah a Moute. That was the difference. I only guarded him a few times tonight.UP NEXTThe Clippers play at the Minnesota Timberwolves.The Thunder host the Orlando Magic and former teammate Serge Ibaka.---Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter (at)CliffBruntAP. Cheap Air Jordan 13 . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. Cheap Jordan 13 Ireland . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area. http://www.cheapairjordan13ireland.com/ . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Jordan 13 Sale Ireland . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Original Jordan 13 For Sale . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. TWICKENHAM -- Michael Cheika bemoaned Australias error count as they fell to a 37-21 defeat to England at Twickenham but said the end-of-year Tests have provided the Wallabies with an opportunity to develop an improved squad depth.Cheika did not agree with a few of Jaco Peypers calls but said it was his teams inability to break Englands second-half momentum which cost them the match.Australia were 10-0 to the good after 18 minutes and had England on the ropes but were unable to preserve that lead as Eddie Jones side consigned them to their ninth defeat of 2016.First half all told, all they got was the drop ball and toe through for the [Jonathan Joseph] try, Cheika said. We had a lot of good continuity.In the second, they are always going to get a run of momentum, and in the moments we had to try and break that, we made errors. We might have had a penalty against us and then back that up, and when we saved that situation we would knock-on and make back to back errors.Cheika said the way the players turned their back on Ben Youngs who quick-tapped a penalty to score Englands third try was unforgiveable and also said they should never have attempted the play which led to Josephs intercept try in the 74th minute.It was their fourth meeting with England this year with Jones side winning on each occasion and Cheika was impressed by them. They play a good game, Cheika said of England.They believe very much in the style of game they play, a pressure, coonservative style and in Australia they scored a lot of tries off errors when we loaded up their attack.ddddddddddddThey play a really good solid game, are very well coached, and you dont win 14 in a row out of luck. Theyre playing good rugby, their own style, and thats why theyre winning games.Saturdays match against England was Australias 15th Test of 2016 and their fifth in the end-of-year international schedule and Cheika said the programme has been gruelling but that was not the reason behind their defeat at Twickenham.We started getting fit towards the end on the tour, I didnt think we started the season in great fitness, Cheika said. Five Tests are difficult but I dont think that had anything to do with the performance tonight.Thats more about recovery and the bigger picture. The boys will be training first week of January so its more about break time. It is what it is.We knew there were 15 Tests this year against the top eight nations. We had a massive turnover in our squad and as much as tonight was disappointing, we finished last year in the same dressing room after a loss so weve had two disappointing finishes to 15 and 16.Weve improved a lot as a team and have given some young lads good experience. Well continue to grow our group so we have a good selection to choose from by 2018 and can narrow that down. ' ' '