1 » game shooting slump that was getting him booed off

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Los Angeles Clippers tightened their defence waiting for the offence to come around. The result was a second-half burst with a strong push from the reserves to lead Los Angeles to a 101-81 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night. "I looked up at one point, and we were shooting like 28 per cent," Clippers forward Blake Griffin said. "Our defence was keeping us there, then we finally took the game over when we started hitting shots. Thats a good lesson for us." Reserves Darren Collison and Jamal Crawford scored 15 points each to lead the Clippers. Chris Paul also had 15 points and eight assists as Los Angeles snapped a two-game losing streak. Griffin added 14 points and nine rebounds, while DeAndre Jordan had 10 points and 14 boards. The performance was a reversal from the previous night when the Clippers lost 107-97 at Atlanta -- an effort coach Doc Rivers called "awful." Rivers credited Griffin and Jordan with stopping the Memphis frontline, particularly Zach Randolph, who was returning from missing two games after ingrown toenail surgery. "I thought those two guys fought hard down low," said Rivers, who recorded his 600th win. "I just thought their leadership defensively was why we won the game." Kosta Koufos led Memphis with 17 points, while Mike Conley had 16 on 6-for-8 shooting. Quincy Pondexter scored 15, and Randolph had 12 points and 12 rebounds, but made only four of his 13 shots. The Clippers shot 13 for 20 in the fourth quarter as Paul and Griffin sat on the bench, leaving the game to the backups. "The Clippers played real well defensively," Koufos said. "They established themselves early in the second half. They hit some tough shots." The Clippers trailed 42-40 at the break before outscoring Memphis 61-39 in the second half while shooting 56 per cent. Los Angeles reserves ended the night outscoring their Memphis counterparts 50-31. "That team has a lot of good players," Randolph said. "They have a lot of good bench players that could be starting." As is the case when the two get together, it was chippy from the start. After meeting in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs the last two years, a rivalry has developed. Early in third, Jerryd Bayless shoved Griffin for a flagrant 1. Then Randolph started mouthing with anyone in a Clippers uniform. And the lobbying for calls from both teams led official Danny Crawford to warn the coaches he had heard enough complaining. In the meantime, the Clippers turned up the defence, enabling them to click off a 21-7 run to open the quarter for a double-digit lead. "I thought the way we responded was good," Griffin said. "There are challenges mentally and physically, and I think that was a mental challenge for us. We were mentally tough in that situation." The rally helped the Clipper outscore Memphis 24-11 in the frame and carry a 64-53 lead into the final quarter. Los Angeles connected on 10 of its first 14 shots in the fourth, continuing to build the lead to as many as 24. Several Clippers players said the frustration from games like the one at Atlanta is they believe in their ability to play good defence. "It would be one thing if we knew were werent capable of it, and we didnt have the bodies and the people to execute it, but we do," Paul said. "We have myself, young, athletic guys that know what were capable of. I may not be athletic, but I am young." NOTES: The road team has won the last five games in the series. Memphis last regular season home win over the Clippers was April 9, 2012. ... Los Angeles now holds a 36-35 edge in the all-time series. ... Memphis G Tony Allen sat out with a bruised hip suffered in the Grizzlies victory over Phoenix on Monday. ... The Clippers are on a seven-game road trip that opened with a 107-97 loss at Atlanta on Wednesday. They have one other seven-game swing in mid-January. ... Counting the first-round playoff games the last two seasons, the Grizzlies and Clippers have played 22 times since Jan. 26, 2012. Giants Jerseys 2020 . The Sochi organizing committee said in Fridays statement that the torch relay reached the North Pole on Oct. 19. Russian Polar explorer Artur Chilingarov, who led the mission, lit a special bowl at the North Pole sign. San Francisco Giants Pro Shop . A criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court said his girlfriend told police they got into the argument early Thursday at his suburban Minneapolis home. https://www.cheapjerseysgiants.us/ . De La Rosa pitched six strong innings to win his sixth consecutive decision, Todd Helton homered and the Colorado Rockies snapped the Los Angeles Dodgers six-game winning streak with a 7-5 victory on Wednesday night. Giants Jerseys China . The 27th-ranked Austrian underwent surgery on a torn tendon in October and needs more time to recover, the Austria Press Agency reports on Saturday. Stitched Giants Jerseys .J. Barea during a three-game shooting slump that was getting him booed off his home court with regularity.FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Kevin Alston and Jerry Bengtson scored second-half goals to lead the New England Revolution to a 2-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night. Alston, a defender who missed the last four games because of a pulled hamstring, scored his first goal of the season in the 68th minute. Bengtson added a goal in stoppage time. New England (2-3-1) won for the second time its last three games and avenged a 4-0 loss at Houston in the opener. Houston (2-3-0) has lost three straight, allowed seven goals in that span. New England goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth had to make just one save, that on a deflected ball in the 81st minute, for his second shhutout of the season.dddddddddddd. The Dynamo did not have a scoring chance at all during the first 80 minutes other than five corner kicks, four during the first half by Boniek Garcia. Nifty exchanges from Diago Kobayashi on the left side of the penalty box area to Teal Bunbury in the middle set up Alstons goal, a right-footed blast under the middle of the crossbar past goalkeeper Tally Hall. Bengtson scored in the 91st minute on a run down the left wing with A.J. Soares assisting. New England was coached by assistant Tom Soehn as head coach Jay Heaps sat out a one-game suspension for arguing a referees decision last week in a loss at San Jose. ' ' '