LOS ANGELES -- Chris Paul and Blake Griffin had

[liaoyun321]

LOS ANGELES -- Chris Paul and Blake Griffin had a little business to take care of before jetting off to the All-Star game. wholesale jerseys . They helped deliver a morale-boosting victory to the Los Angeles Clippers, who at 20-11 are off to their best start since 1974-75. Paul scored a season-high 36 points and Griffin added 27 in a 103-95 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night that snapped a two-game skid in their final game before the break. The teams had split their first two meetings, with the Nuggets winning 112-91 nearly three weeks ago. "They pretty much embarrassed us on national TV last time so it was good to get this win and get our confidence going into the break," Paul said. Paul and Griffin are headed to the game as starters in Orlando. Theyll return to a team that is No. 3 in the West and atop the Pacific Division to open the second half of the lockout-shortened season. "Thats when it gets serious, after the break," Paul said. "Definitely a lot of room for improvement. Obviously we havent peaked yet and we can keep getting better." Griffin had 12 rebounds and DeAndre Jordan had 10 points and 16 boards as the Clippers improved to 12-4 at home. "We feel pretty good," Griffins said. "Obviously we lost some ones that we didnt want to and we shouldnt have, but thats going to happen. We got to keep plugging." Arron Afflalo scored 20 points and rookie Jordan Hamilton added a season-high 18 points for the injury-riddled Nuggets, who lost their fifth in a row on the road. They played without Danilo Gallinari, Ty Lawson, Nene and Rudy Fernandez. The teams played it close throughout with 23 lead changes and 16 ties. Paul scored 17 straight points over the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth that extended the Clippers lead to 85-79. "The guy that beat us was Chris Paul. He had incredible control of the game," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "We had a lot of young guys out there, and he found a lot of easy shots and made them. He played spectacular. The last couple of games we got beat by (Kevin) Durant and Paul, and those are two guys who know how to do that." The Nuggets answered with seven in a row, including three by Al Harrington, to take a 91-89 lead. Paul was 11 of 12 from the line and had nine assists. From there, the Clippers outscored Denver 14-4 to end the game. Griffin had six points, making four straight free throws, while the Nuggets couldnt hit from outside. Harrington airballed a 3-pointer and missed another one on the ensuing possession. He finished with 11 points. "We missed shots that we normally make," Harrington said. "I guess Im in a little bit of a shooting slump, but the only way you can get through that is to be aggressive so Im going to continue to do that." Denver didnt make a field goal over the final 7:27. "We had a game plan for (Paul), but we didnt execute it as well as we would have liked or as well as we did the last time we played them," Harrington said. "He just got wiggle room and made a lot of big shots. He moves so slow, he almost lulls you to sleep. We messed up a little bit on our coverages and gave him enough space to get shots off. He wasnt really getting to the basket that much, but he was making his mid-range shots." Paul scored the Clippers final 12 points of the third, when they led 80-79. Denver led by five midway through the period before Griffin and Paul combined to score seven in a row and briefly put the Clippers ahead by two. The Nuggets led 54-52 at the break, with neither team leading by more than five points in the first half. Hamilton scored 13 points, missing just two of his six field goal attempts, for the Nuggets. Paul scored all of his 13 points in the second quarter for the Clippers. Notes: Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said F Kenyon Martins back has been bothering him and he got hit in the ribs in the game. ... Nuggets F-C Nene missed his sixth straight game with a strained left calf. ... Griffin and Paul addressed the fans before the game, with Griffin thanking them for their support during the first half of the season. "Were going to go down to Orlando and try to make you guys proud," Paul added. wholesale nfl jerseys . Friends and former teammates are happy hes made it back to the NFLs biggest stage, and the general public is excited to see if No. cheap jerseys from china . -- With the Hamilton Tiger-Cats season hanging in the balance, rookie quarterback Dan LeFevour delivered. MINNEAPOLIS -- Francisco Liriano is a difficult pitcher to figure out. When the Chicago White Sox pitcher is throwing strikes, his changeup-slider combination makes him a lefty who can dominate lineups. But when he is cant find the plate, it is often only a matter of time until the opposition scores runs in bunches. That inconsistency was part of the reason Liriano was traded from Minnesota to the White Sox at the end of July. But in Saturdays 5-3 victory over the Twins, Liriano (6-11) was tremendous against his former team. Instead of being wild and getting frustrated, Liriano took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and helped the White Sox stay on top of the AL Central. Considering Liriano had recently been demoted to the bullpen -- making him a rare pitcher who made the rotation-to-reliever move for two teams in the same season -- this performance came as a huge surprise. "He just looked like he had a lot of confidence out there, just throwing strikes," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "His stuff moves all over the place. When he has that confidence and pounds the strike zone, hes tough." Liriano allowed only a two-out homer in the seventh to Trevor Plouffe. He walked two, hit a batter and struck out nine in seven innings. "He seemed like he was more under control, he wasnt as jumpy, he wasnt as quick," Chicago catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "It looked like he slowed it down a little bit. He pitched really well. I was happy for him to come back here and do that. He had a great slider and a great changeup." Liriano, who threw a no-hitter against the White Sox last season, was simply relieved to help Chicago win and stay ahead of Detroit in the AL Central race. "My last three starts, I didnt feel like I did my job, but youve got to keep fighting," said Liriano, who picked up his third win since the July 28 trade. "Today I felt like I did my job." Ventura would not commit to having Liriano rejoin the White Sox rotation for the final 17 games of the regular season and starting Thursday at Kansas City, but said that the performance was "a great step for him." Liriano didnt appear too concerned about what his role is down the stretch. "Its not a big deal," he said. "Were in a pennant race now, weve got to stay focused and do whatevers best for the team, whether bullpen or starting." Liriano never got in serious trouble against the Twins. He allowed only two runners through the first six innings. He walked Josh Willingham with two outs in the first inning, but quickly got the next batter, Justin Morneau, to ground out. Liriano walked Drew Butera to lead off the bottom of the sixth and then got Pedro Florimon to ground into a double play. cheap jerseys. Lirianos bid for the no-hitter ended with two outs in the seventh. After hitting Morneau with a pitch, Plouffe blasted a high changeup over the wall in left-centre on Lirianos 96th pitch of the game. "I had better location with pitches and I was getting ahead in the count early and they were swinging early," said Liriano who opened this season by losing seven of his first nine starts. "Pitchings all about location, if you get better location, youll get better results." The Twins had seen enough flashes of brilliance from Liriano since 2006 that they werent shocked. "Weve all seen him dominate teams, just dominate them," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "But weve also seen where has a hard time finding the strike zone. Anything Frankie does weve seen it one way or another." Jesse Crain, another former Twins player, pitched a perfect eighth inning for the White Sox. Closer Addison Reed faced three batters to start the bottom of the ninth, but didnt record an out. With the bases loaded, White Sox manager Robin Ventura then turned to Matt Thornton to finish the game. Thornton got Morneau to ground into a run-scoring double play and Plouffe to ground out to pick up his third save in seven chances. Paul Konerko homered in the third inning and drove in the first three runs of the game as the White Sox jumped ahead 4-0. Slugger Adam Dunn returned to the White Sox lineup for the first time since straining a muscle on his right side more than a week ago. Dunn, who missed seven games, went 2 for 3 with a walk and scored a run before being lifted for a pinch-runner in the top of the eighth. "It felt fine," Dunn said. "I didnt try to swing as hard as I could, it felt good." Minnesota starter Samuel Deduno (6-4) struggled with his control from the start, throwing only 40 of his 86 pitches for strikes. Deduno, who had been undefeated at Target Field, lasted just four innings, giving up four runs on three hits with five walks and six strikeouts. NOTES: RHP Jake Peavy (10-11, 3.27 ERA) will try to even his record Sunday in his 29th start of the season for the White Sox. The Twins will counter with Scott Diamond (11-7, 3.46 ERA), who has lost two of his last three starts. ... Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer missed his fifth straight game due to back spasms. ... Minnesotas Ryan Doumit wasnt in the lineup, but was available to pinch hit if needed. ... The seven innings pitched was Lirianos longest since the trade to Chicago and matched his second longest of the season. ' ' '