e were two defencemen in the league who

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LOS ANGELES -- The Clippers gave up 96 shots to Minnesota. Lucky for them, the Timberwolves last three didnt go in. Blake Griffin had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Chris Paul added 21 points and the Clippers hung on for a 109-107 victory on Monday night after Kevin Love missed a tip-in at the buzzer. "We got fortunate at the end," Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers said. "It was a point-blank tip." With 3 seconds left, Kevin Martin missed a jumper that Nikola Pekovic rebounded, only to miss the layup. Love grabbed the ball and missed again to end the Wolves two-game winning streak. "My natural instinct was to try to rush it and get it up there, but it sat on the rim and came right off. I would say 99 times out of a hundred times that goes in," Love said. "I could have dunked it, but I thought I just had to touch it real quick because time was running out." Paul had 11 assists, Jamal Crawford scored 18 points and DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 11 rebounds to help the Clippers improve to 3-0 at home with Oklahoma City headed to Staples Center on Wednesday. "This year is one of the most competitive years Ive seen for a while," Clippers backup centre Ryan Hollins said. "Every single night youre playing a big matchup. Minnesota didnt even make the playoffs last year, and theyre just as good as anybody in the league right now." Martin scored 30 points for the Wolves, who lost their sixth straight against the Clippers. Pekovic added 25 points, and Love had 23 points and 19 rebounds. They ended a 22-game series losing streak against the Lakers on Sunday, and nearly stopped their skid against Staples Centers other NBA team. "Our guys believed they could get back in it," Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. "They made the right plays defensively and converted at the other end. Thats the way you have to play if youre going to try to win. In this league, you have to give yourselves a chance to win in the fourth quarter, and we were there." Los Angeles opened the fourth with a 14-7 run to build a 98-87 lead, its first by double digits since the second quarter. Crawford scored eight points. Jordan missed all five of his fre e throws in the period, clanking his last two off the front of the rim while the Wolves got within six. Minnesota cut its deficit to 101-99 on a fast-break dunk by Martin off Pauls turnover. Martin hit a 3-pointer on the previous possession. The Clippers scored six in a row to go up 107-99 before the Wolves answered with six straight to trail 107-105. Griffin got fouled and made both for a 109-107 lead. Corey Brewer missed a 3-pointer in the left corner, but Pekovic was alone under the basket, grabbed the rebound and put it in to keep the Wolves within two with 28 seconds left. "Were a very good team when we are fighting back and this was another great learning experience for us," Love said. The teams played a back-and-forth third, with neither leading by more than six points. Ricky Rubios 3-pointer put the Wolves ahead 76-74 before the Clippers closed on an 11-4 run to lead 85-80. Crawford tossed up a 3-pointer from 15 feet behind the midcourt line that banked in at the buzzer, enlivening the crowd. "We only won by two points so it came in handy," he said. The Clippers used a 19-5 run, including 10 in a row, with six different players scoring to go up 53-42 in the second quarter. Pekovic keyed a 16-6 spurt with nine points to send the Wolves into halftime trailing 59-58. Notes: Paul missed a free throw, going 7 of 8 to end his streak of converting 37 in a row. ... Barnes played with a right thigh contusion. ... Wolves rookie Shabazz Muhammad, who left UCLA after one year, sat after playing 2:47 against the Lakers in his return to Los Angeles. ... Paul has at least 10 assists in all eight games this season. ... The Clippers swept the Wolves in four games last season. Oscar Robertson Jersey .C. -- The Edmonton Oilers used a late-power-play goal to get a hard-fought road victory. Mitch Richmond Jersey . Dont miss a single shot, live on TSN beginning at 7pm et/4pm pt. Winners of their last eight games, the Heat return to Toronto for the second time in the month of November. After beginning the season 4-3, allowing 100.9 points on 47 per cent shooting, Miamis resurgent defence has vaulted them back to the top of a weak Eastern Conference. http://www.nbakingsonline.com/Authentic ... gs-Jersey/. Former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds made his longshot request of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit upheld Bonds conviction in September. DeMarcus Cousins Jersey . "[People] keep asking that question and its not a legit question because we dont have that right, we havent arrived yet," Casey responded. "Weve got to take each game at a time, each possession at a time and look at it that way. Malachi Richardson Jersey . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Keeping The Captain? Brian Giontas agent Steve Bartlett told La Presse on Tuesday that the Montreal Canadiens want to keep their captain - an unrestricted fre e agent on July 1 - in the fold, while sources tell the paper that the two sides will start talks this week.The Edmonton Oilers took a bold approach to fre e agency, giving money and term to a couple of fancy stats darlings. Numbers Game breaks down the signings of Benoit Pouliot and Mark Fayne.. The Oilers Get: LW Benoit Pouliot, D Mark Fayne and D Keith Aulie. Pouliot, 27, has been a hockey nomad, bouncing from team to team in recent seasons, but hes been pretty good at each stop along the way. While playing for four different teams (Montreal, Boston, Tampa Bay, N.Y. Rangers) in the past four seasons, Pouliot has put up strong possession numbers in each stop and hes been a pretty effective goal-scorer in limited time. He had a career-high 36 points in 80 games for the Rangers last season. The issue that crept up with Pouliot, and was particularly notable during the Rangers Stanley Cup run, was his alarming tendency to take offensive zone penalties and that lack of discipline can be frustrating but, in the grand scheme, Pouliot has been drawing more penalties than he takes. He has good size and plays enough of a physical game to get under the skin of the opposition from time to time and Pouliots willingness to go to the net could give him a shot at a 20-goal season if he ends up playing a bigger role in Edmonton. Where Pouliot fits with the Oilers is a bit of a question. He looks like a third-line left winger -- thats the role that hes handled effectively -- and the Rangers do have enough talent on the right side that they could have some decent offensive production out of their third line. While Pouliot is lauded by those who appreciate advanced stats, most would do a double-take before signing any third-line winger to a five-year contract. Maybe five years and $20-million was the cost of doing business, but that does seem like a serious commitment, particularly if there isnt room for Pouliot among the Oilers top six forwards. The Rangers have some holes to fill up front, and knew that they would not be abble to get him re-signed at market prices, especially when the Oilers were willing to spend at this level.dddddddddddd Fayne is a 27-year-old defenceman who has good size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) and plays a sound defensive game, something that is sorely needed in Edmonton. There were two defencemen in the league who played tough opposition, started more shifts in the defensive zone yet finished with a better shot differential per 60 minutes than Fayne. One was Zdeno Chara and the other was Faynes frequent partner, Andy Greene. The interesting part of that possession success is that, last season, Fayne was the weak link in that pairing -- Greene had much better possession stats (54.2 Corsi%) without Fayne than Fayne had (47.2% Corsi%) without Greene -- but that was a flip of the year before, when Fayne was at 57.2% without Greene and Greene was 54.4% without Fayne. Ultimately, Fayne has been a reliable defensive defenceman who should upgrade the Oilers and, signed for $14.5-million over four seasons, hes not unreasonably priced if he can handle top-four minutes in Edmonton. The Devils have some young defencemen on the way up, including Jon Merrill, Eric Gelinas and Adam Larsson, that can take over some of the minutes that Fayne had been playing. 25-year-old Keith Aulie is a 6-foot-6 defenceman who has played 136 career NHL games, but has been crushed in possession terms, over his four NHL seasons. Hard to imagine that hes anything more than a spare part, even for the Oilers. While Pouliot and Fayne arent marquee names, they have been quietly solid players for several seasons. While the Oilers went long on Pouliots term, they were aggressive to acquire a couple of players that ought to make them more competitive. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. China Jerseys Ch eap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Chea p NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys From China Chea p Jerseys Fre e Shipping Ch eap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '