01-02-2020, 06:24 AM
LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers said he declined a chance to speak with owner Donald Sterling, who is alleged to have made racist comments in a recorded conversation. "I was asked, do I need to talk with Donald, and I passed, quite honestly," Rivers said Monday. "I dont think right now is the time or the place, for me, at least. I just took a pass." Sterling is purported to have told a woman not to bring black people to his games or associate with them. "Yeah, I believe he said those things. But I still want to make sure," Rivers said during a conference call. "As far as believing those things? I heard what he said. Until someone tells me differently, you usually listen to what people say. I havent given him his due process. I havent given him an opportunity to explain himself and quite honestly right now I dont want him to. I want to wait for that further judgment." The coach cancelled practice Monday, a day after a 118-97 loss to the Golden State Warriors that evened their playoff series at 2-2. "I just felt like they needed to breathe. Theyve been inundated with this," Rivers said. Still, he said pretty much the entire team was at the clubs practice facility. "Ill go down and say hi to them and talk to them, make sure theyre in the right place. Right now its more than basketball. This is a non-basketball decision that I thought I had to make and I thought it was right decision. If you get your life better, then you can probably do your work better. They need to do that." Game 5 is Tuesday night in Los Angeles. "These last 48 hours or so have been really hard for our players and everyone," Rivers said. "Id just like to reiterate how disappointed I am in the comments attributed to our owner. I cant tell you how upset I am, our players are." Warriors coach Mark Jackson suggested that Clippers fans should boycott the game. "I believe if it was me, I wouldnt come to the game," Jackson said. "I believe the fans, the loudest statement that they can make as fans is to not show up to the game. ... To me, it will make the noise of it not being tolerated. That this is a different time. Its unfortunate, and we cannot allow someone with these feelings to profit." Rivers said he knew Jackson was speaking from his heart and that everyone has their opinion. "I dont share that. I hope its packed and people are cheering for us, the players. And they were cheering for the players before this happened. But if they feel differently, who can say theyre wrong? And Im not the one thats going to say that, I can tell you that." Rivers said its still to be determined whether he or a player will address the crowd. "Again, we dont know the right answer," Rivers said. "We want to do right here. We want to make the best decisions here. If we feel thats something will help our fans, then it will be done. If we feel its something they dont need, we wont do it. The tickets have already been sold. The fans, theyre in a dilemma as well. We want them to cheer for their players and their team. Because its still their players and their team, and it will be their players and their team. I think from what I get from the fans Ive heard from, thats how they feel, like, This is my team, these are my players Im cheering for, and thats not going to change. I hope that continues." Rivers said the controversy has been tough on his players. "What other players are going through Should I be playing thoughts in the middle of a playoff series? I sympathize for my players. They didnt sign on for this. Yet here they are and theyre in the middle of it and they have to deal with it. They didnt do anything wrong and theyre in the middle of it, and they didnt ask to be. I feel terrible for them. Im going to try to do whatever I can to make them OK." Keith Hernandez . The Detroit Tigers star had microfracture surgery Friday to repair the medial and lateral meniscus in his left knee. "I dont want to say it was a surprise," team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said. Ozzie Smith Jersey Large . Jesus Navas bookended yet another huge home win for City by scoring after 14 seconds and again in second-half stoppage time, with Sergio Aguero also netting in each half to add to an own goal by Sandro and a brilliant strike by Alvaro Negredo. http://www.custommlbcardinalsjersey.com/...-461q.html . Leaning forward with both hands on his knees, Buffon appeared to be resting or somehow trying to withstand the rain. Or perhaps the 36-year-old goalkeeper and Italy captain was reflecting on this: He is only the third player in history to be part of five World Cup squads, along with Germany great Lothar Matthaus and former Mexico goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal. Daniel Ponce de Leon . Since coming to the big leagues in late May, La Stella is 6 for 7 with the bases loaded, driving in 13 runs in those at-bats. Rogers Hornsby . Thats exactly what happened. And they enjoyed every moment. Durant remained sizzling with 33 points, Serge Ibaka added 22 and the Thunder roared back from an abysmal start -- they trailed 22-4 early -- to embarrass the Miami Heat 112-95 on Wednesday night, erasing that big deficit out of the gate by outscoring the two-time defending champions by 43 points over a 33-minute span.SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul didnt let a slow start against the Sacramento Kings throw him off course. A quick pep talk by coach Doc Rivers and some encouraging words from his teammates convinced Paul to keep jacking up shots until they started to fall. Just like that, Pauls sizzling start to the season rolled on. Paul had 26 points and 10 assists for his third straight double-double, and the Clippers came back after blowing a 15-point lead in the second half to beat the Kings 110-101 on Friday night. "I came out a little slow and tried to let the game develop, but I cant be that way," Paul said. "I have to be more aggressive. Once I got more aggressive, that opened up things for everybody." Blake Griffin added 20 points, 17 rebounds and six assists while reserve Jamal Crawford had 18 points for the Clippers, who have won two straight since a season-opening loss to the Lakers. Six players scored in double figures for Los Angeles, which trailed 92-90 midway through the fourth quarter before going ahead for good on a 3-pointer by Paul. The Clippers point guard had nine points over the final 6 minutes, including four consecutive free throws to extend the lead to 108-101. Paul got into it with Sacramento centre DeMarcus Cousins. The two exchanged words and had to be separated in the first quarter after it appeared Paul tried to push on Cousins face while the Kings centre was on the ground. Cousins later drew a technical in the fourth quarter after blocking a shot by Paul when he appeared to taunt the guard. Isaiah Thomas, who led the Kings with 29 points, was also hit with a technical foul while Los Angeles reserve Matt Barnes was called for a flagrant foul. "It was a track meet and it was physical, too," Rivers said. "It had a little bit of everything." The Clippers led most of the game and were ahead 66-51 early in the third quarter before the Kings made their best run of the night behind Thomas. Thomas, Sacramentos diminutive backup point guard, scored seven points including a driving layup as he crashed to the court. That helped the Kings trim the gap to single digits, and Travis Outlaws tip-in following Cousins missed 18-footer cut the Clipperrs lead to 79-77 heading into the fourth quarter.dddddddddddd "I love the fact that we got back in the game and we didnt stop competing," Sacramento coach Michael Malone said. "But you cant beat a good team if you allow them to shoot 50 per cent from the field and from the 3-point line." A driving layup by Thomas tied the game at 90-all, and Jason Thompsons jumper gave the Kings their first lead since early in the first half. It didnt last long. Paul scored five straight points and fed DeAndre Jordan with an alley-oop pass for a dunk that gave Los Angeles a 97-94 lead. Cousins, who finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds, scored on a short hook to pull the Kings within 102-99 but Jared Dudley and Paul made two free throws apiece to help the Clippers seal the win. "Im one of those people that let my teammates get me going, and I need that," said Paul, who shot 7 of 14 from the field. "Doc talks to me about it but its my teammates that help me." Los Angeles led comfortably until Sacramentos push in the second half. Barnes and J.J. Redick made consecutive 3s as part of a 12-0 run by the Clippers midway through the first quarter. The Kings pulled even at 22-all on two free throws from Thomas before Crawford made a runner in the lane to give Los Angeles the early lead. Crawford scored six of the Clippers first nine points in the second quarter and Griffin added four on a driving layup and two free throws to help Los Angeles take a 41-31 lead. The Kings shot just 38.1 per cent in the first half but pulled within 52-45 on a free throw by Thomas with 21.5 seconds left. Paul answered with a 15-footer to extend the Clippers lead to nine at halftime. Sacramento made it close in the second half but couldnt close out after taking a lead with just over 6 minutes left. "We have to get better on the defensive end," Cousins said. "They got going, and instead of us stopping the bleeding we let them continue to do that. They didnt beat us. We beat ourselves." NOTES: Paul is averaging 27.3 points through the first three games. ... Crawford was 7 of 10 from the field. ... Former NBA star and current Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson was among those seated courtside. ' ' '