SAN FRANCISCO -- Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers would prefer to be talking about how well Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan have played against the Golden State Warriors. Or how his team has defended Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Or just about anything that has happened on the court in the first-round playoff series. Instead, Rivers and his players spent Saturday talking about how they would respond to an audio recording of a man identified as Clippers owner Donald Sterling telling his girlfriend not to bring black people to games. "The fact that I had to spend 45 minutes in a meeting instead of watching film did not make me happy," Rivers said. Whether the comments -- which drew sharp criticism and calls for action from around the NBA -- effect the Clippers in Game 4 against the Warriors is all that worries Rivers right now. Los Angeles leads the series 2-1 and has looked every bit like a championship contender in winning the past two games. Chasing a title is the reason Rivers said players decided against protesting or even boycotting the game. They want to win for each other, he said, and not for Sterling or anyone else. "For me, I want to focus on my guys. I came here for them. They came here for each other. Our goals have not changed," Rivers said passionately after the Clippers practice at the University of San Francisco. "Its like one of the players said, Hey, when I was a kid, I had a goal to win a world championship. It was to do that. It wasnt to win a world championship for someone." Clippers point guard Chris Paul, the president of the National Basketball Players Association, released a statement through the union that said "this is a very serious issue which we will address aggressively." Paul and Clippers All-Star forward Blake Griffin declined further comment on the issue after practice. Other players were not made available as Rivers said he would speak for the team. "A lot of guys voiced their opinions. None of them were happy about it," Rivers said. "This was a situation where were trying to go after something very important for us, something that weve all dreamed about all our childhoods. Donald or anyone else had nothing to do with that dream, and were not going to let anything get in the way of those dreams." Sterling, a real estate owner who has a decades-long history of alleged discrimination and offensive behaviour, made his team the centre of NBA attention for all the wrong reasons again. In a recording posted on TMZs website, a man reported to be Sterling questions his girlfriends association with minorities. Clippers President Andy Roeser said in statement that the team did not know if the tape is legitimate or has been altered. Roeser also said the views expressed on the recording do not reflect Sterlings beliefs and that the woman on the tape -- identified by TMZ as V. Stiviano -- "is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Sterling family alleging that she embezzled more than $1.8 million, who told Mr. Sterling that she would get even." Sterling has not commented on the situation. Left in the aftermath was Rivers and his players facing more than 50 reporters at the Clippers practice Saturday. A day earlier, only about a dozen were at the teams hotel for the interview session. Most players ignored the added attention. Jamal Crawford looked over and laughed. Hedo Turkoglu jokingly shouted and smiled as he attempted shots. All that the hoopla meant for the Clippers as a team, Rivers said, was one monumental "distraction" before its biggest game of the season. "In a weird way, Im sure Golden State is having a ball right now because were not talking about them," Rivers said. Warriors coach Mark Jackson, who played for the Clippers from 1992-94, said "theres no place" for Sterlings alleged remarks but his team would remain focused on the game. His players echoed those sentiments, saying they wouldnt be deterred by one mans beliefs -- no matter how offensive. Rivers also said the audio recording would not serve as motivation for his team. "Were playing Golden State, and Golden State is our enemy right now," Rivers said. "Thats where were going to keep it, and thats where we want to keep it." . Philbin said Thursday he wants players to treat one another with civility and he wont tolerate anything less. In taking questions for the first time since Ted Wells released his report into the bullying scandal that rocked the league, Philbin made it clear things would be cleaned up. .C. -- Cam Newton wasnt flawless on Sunday.
http://www.cheaprocketsjerseysauthentic.com/. It was the quickest three-goal sequence in Olympic history, with the latter two coming just eight seconds apart. Kessel, Lamoureux and Kendall Coyne all scored twice for the Americans, and Molly Schaus made 10 saves in her Sochi debut. . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Defensive Depth TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun is reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have considerable interest in unrestricted free-agent defenceman Dan Boyle. . His absence against the Celtics comes a day after he scored 43 points in the Heats 100-96 win at Cleveland.KAMLOOPS, B.C. - Adam Tambellini had a goal and an assist, and Mack Shields made 26 saves as the Calgary Hitmen blanked the Kamloops Blazers 3-0 in Western Hockey League action on Saturday. Kenton Helgesen and Jaynen Rissling also scored for Calgary (35-15-6), while Brady Brassart picked up two assists. Bolton Pouliot stopped 28 of 31 shots for Kamloops (11-40-5), who have now dropped nine straight games. The Hitmen were 2 for 8 on the power play while Kamloops failed to score on two chances with the man advantage. --- BRONCOS 6 WARRIORS 3 MOOSE JAW, Sask. -- Jay Merkley scored two goals to lift the Broncos over the Warriors. Graham Black scored once and assisted on three for Swift Current (27-21-8), while Brett Lernout, Colby Cave and Cavin Leth also scored. Jack Rodewald scored a goal and added an assist for Moose Jaw (14-32-8), and Josh Ulrich and Brayden Point rounded out the Warriors offence. Swift Currents Eetu Laurikainen made 23 saves for the win. Zach Sawchenko stopped 39 saves as his team was outshot 45-26. --- RAIDERS 3 TIGERS 2 PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. -- Josh Morrisseys 19th goal of the season, scored at 3:11 of the third period, held up as the winner as the Raiders edged the Tigers. Sawyer Lang and Chance Braid also scored for Prince Albert (25-26-3), while Morrissey added an assist. Markus Eisenschmid and Trevor Cox scored for Medicine Hat (32-20-3). Cole Cheveldave turned aside 27 shots to pick up the victory while Marek Langhamer made 19 saves in the losing effort. --- PATS 7 BLADES 3 REGINA -- Kyle Burroughs and Dmitry Sinitsyn had a goal and two assists apiece to lead the Pats over the Blades. Boston Leier, Chandler Stephenson, Braden Christoffer, Dyson Stevenson and Jesse Zgraggen had a goal and an assist each for Regina (28-22-5), who outshot the Blades 62-25. Cameron Hebig, Austin Adamson, and Chase Clayton scored for Saskatoon (15-39-4), who was held to four shots on goal in the third period. Regina goaltender Daniel Wapple made 22 saves in the win. Troy Trombley kicked aside 55 shots in the losing effort. --- ICE 4 HURRICANES 2 CRANBROOK, B.C. -- Mackenzie Skapski made 32 saves and Sam Reinhart had a goal and two assists to lead the Ice over the Hurricanes. Jagger Dirk had a goal and an assist, and Luke Philp and Rinat Valiev also scored for Kootenay (30-21-4), who had 55 penalty minutes on 13 infractions, including a game misconduct to Landon Peel. Lethbridge (11-41-5) scored both its goals on the power play, the first from Reid Duke and the second from Riley Sheen. Jamal Watson and Brady Ramsay were given game misconducts as the Hurricanes tacked on 57 minutes on 13 penalties. Teagan Sacher made 30 saves in the losss.dddddddddddd --- WINTERHAWKS 5 SILVERTIPS 3 PORTLAND, Ore. -- Taylor Leier scored twice and Corbin Boes stopped 26 shots as the Winterhawks topped the Silvertips. Nicolas Petan and Alex Schoenborn had a goal and an assist apiece for Portland (38-12-5), who outshot the Silvertips 41-29. Layne Viveiros added the other Winterhawks goal and Oliver Bjorkstrand chipped in with two assists. Ben Betker, Brayden Low, and Kohl Bauml scored for Everett (26-21-8). Austin Lotz turned away 36 shots for the Silvertips. --- COUGARS 7 REBELS 1 PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. -- Troy Bourke scored two goals and assisted on two more as the Cougars dominated the Rebels. Brad Morrison had two goals and one assist, Todd Fiddler scored twice, and Zach Pochiro also scored for Prince George (24-26-7), who outshot the Rebels 41-18. Aspen Sterzer was the lone goal scorer for Red Deer (27-25-4). Cougars goalie Adam Beukeboom stopped 17 shots for the victory. Aust Lotz made 36 saves for Everett. --- OIL KINGS 5 GIANTS 1 VANCOUVER -- Tristan Jarry needed to make only 15 saves to secure Edmontons 11th straight win. Brett Pollock, Edgars Kulda and Curtis Lazar had a goal and an assist apiece, and Brandon Ralph and Dysin Mayo also scored for the Oil Kings (40-13-1), who outshot the Giants 27-16. Foster Thomas replied for Vancouver (27-21-9) with a short-handed goal at 14:18 of the first period. Giants goalie Payton Lee stopped 22 shots in the losing effort. --- ROYALS 6 ROCKETS 4 KELOWNA, B.C. -- Steven Hodges scored two goals and Coleman Vollrath made 30 saves to lift the Royals over the Rockets. Alex Blomqvist scored a goal and added an assist, and Jordan Fransoo, Logan Nelson and Austin Carroll also scored for Victoria (38-16-4), who inched closer to the B.C. division-leading Rockets in the standings. Tyson Baillie scored a goal and assisted on two more, Nick Merkley had a goal and an assist, and Tyrell Gouldbourne and Colton Heffley also scored as Kelowna (43-9-4) failed to pick up at least one point for the first time in 10 games. Jordan Cooke turned aside 37 shots in the losing effort. --- CHIEFS 7 AMERICANS 3 KENNEWICK, Wash. -- Eric Williams made 31 saves and the Chiefs got help from seven different goal scorers as they downed Tri-City. Keanu Yamamoto and Dominc Zwerger had a goal and an assist apiece for Spokane (32-18-5), and Marcus Messier, Adam Helewka, Carter Proft, Mike Aviani and Colton Bobyk also scored. Beau McCue, Brian Williams and Braden Purtill replied for Tri-City (26-24-5), who was 2 for 5 on the power play. Americans goalie Eric Comrie stopped 21 shots and held the Chiefs scoreless on three power-play opportunities in the losing effort. ' ' '
