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27	December 2019

crifice fly for the first of his two RBIs. Bailey

NEW ORLEANS - Injuries and illness across New Orleans roster provided Daruis Miller a chance to play extended minutes with his old Kentucky teammate, Anthony Davis. Spurs Jerseys China . They did a lot of winning together in college, and Wednesday nights game against an NBA playoff contender was no different. Davis had 16 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks while Miller capped a 16-point outing with a pair of clutch jumpers, and the under-manned Pelicans won their fourth straight, 98-96 over the Los Angeles Clippers. "I just knew I had an opportunity. I wanted to come out and play aggressively," said Miller, whose nearly 29 minutes of action were more than double his season average of 11.8. "I just so happened to have a good game. I think everybody did, though. Everybody stepped up and thats the reason why we won." Millers 3 made it 95-90, and his 16-foot jumper coming off a screen to the left of the foul line gave the Pelicans a 97-92 lead with 47 seconds left. Anthony Morrow, also playing extended minutes, scored 27 points, while reserve centre Alexis Ajinca added 14 points and 11 rebounds. "We beat a team thats got a chance to win a title," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. "I cant say enough about our group. It felt like a playoff game in there tonight." Jamal Crawford scored 31 for the Clippers, but narrowly missed a couple late 3-point attempts, including one as time expired that could have won it. "We didnt execute the play," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of the final seconds. "But the game didnt come down to the final play. I really thought (New Orleans) deserved to win. "If we had won, I would have taken it, but sometimes the basketball gods punish you for messing around and I though thats what we did." Former New Orleans star Chris Paul had 12 assists, but set a Clippers record for shooting futility by missing all 12 of his attempts from the field. His only points came on two foul shots. "If I go 0 for 15 or 0 for 20 and we win, I could care less," said Paul, whose team had won nine of its previous 10 games to get within striking distance of the second playoff seed in the Western Conference. "Its more than this game. Its about playing the right way going into the playoffs." Blake Griffin had 21 points, including a late off-balance floater as he was fouled with 10.5 seconds left. But he missed the following free throw that could have tied it. Davis rebounded the miss, but clanked a free throw on the other end, giving Los Angeles one more chance to tie or win. Davis scored 10 of his points in the second half, including a two-handed dunk in which he sprung toward the hoop from right side of the lane too quickly for DeAndre Jordan to respond. Davis also took on Griffin with confidence, rising over him to score on one end and alter his shots on the other. "AD wanted to prove that he and Blake are on the same level," Williams said. Jordan had 11 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks, but lamented, "We didnt play defence in the first half. We gave them a lot of confidence and when that happens its hard to turn guys off." Pelicans guard Eric Gordon missed his third straight game with left knee tendinitis, while point guards Brian Roberts (bruised left knee) and Austin Rivers (upper respiratory infection) were also out. That forced Williams to start shooting guard Tyreke Evans at point guard, with Miller, normally a small forward, also playing some minutes at guard. Evans finished with 10 points and nine assists. "Its like MASH unit," Williams said. "Were sitting there looking at the guys go through warm-ups this morning and it didnt look good. So we brought the guys together and just talked to them about, Just compete at a high level." New Orleans managed to keep pace with Los Angeles in part because Paul kept missing and didnt score until hitting two free throws with 2:52 left in the third quarter. "Chris started pressing a little bit," Rivers said. "He was trying to get going, which you want him to do. Just keep doing it in the realm of the offence." Notes: The Clippers went 13 of 30 from 3-point range. They won the previous 33 games in which theyd made at least nine 3s. ... The Pelicans victory was their first over the Clippers in four games this season. They wont meet again. ... New Orleans reached 10 blocks in a game for the 10th time this season, most in the NBA. San Antonio Spurs Store . 22 because of a bruised foot and have added forward Sean Collins to the roster on emergency recall from Springfield of the AHL. Fake Spurs Jerseys .C. - Blair Jones scored the eventual winner in the third period as the Abbotsford Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Oil Barons 3-2 in American Hockey League action on Friday. https://www.cheapspurs.com/ . - The Green Bay Packers got back to work on Friday without star quarterback Aaron Rodgers. CHICAGO -- Jake Arrieta took the ball for the Chicago Cubs and picked up right where he left off. He threw his fastball where he wanted it to go. His breaking stuff had good late movement. The Cincinnati Reds finally had to put him on base to get him out of the game. Arrieta retired his first 18 batters and struck out nine in seven impressive innings, leading Chicago to a 7-3 victory over Cincinnati on Tuesday night. "He was commanding his pitches," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "His pitches had life." Arrieta (4-1) struck out eight during his perfect start, including the side in the sixth. He had a leadoff walk in the bottom half and came around to score when Homer Bailey (7-4) hit Starlin Castro with the bases loaded. That little trip around the bases proved costly. Rookie Billy Hamilton started the seventh with a single up the middle for Cincinnatis first baserunner. "I was pretty gassed there, unfortunately," Arrieta said. "Pretty humid night. Long inning there in the sixth. Running the bases, which really isnt all that tough in itself, but you couple that with being on the mound and having that long layoff, it adds a little bit to it." Arrieta allowed two runs and three hits while improving to 3-0 with a 1.14 ERA in five June starts. It was his first win of the season at Wrigley Field, where he has yielded three runs in 23 innings over four starts. "Really its just kind of going through the process that I feel like gives me the best chance to have success," he said, "and going through it day by day and sticking with it." Anthony Rizzo belted a solo homer for the second straight night for the Cubs, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Welington Castillo drove in two runs, including a sacrifice fly in Chicagos three-run eighth. Devin Mesoraco homered for the fifth straight game for Cincinnati, matching a franchise record. Mesoracos 14th homer came with one out in the ninth against Neil Ramirez. "It was late in the game. All the other homers were to help the team wiin, and important, big homers," he said. San Antonio Spurs Gear. "They actually meant a lot. That one didnt really help us come back, so it doesnt mean as much." Mesoraco also had an RBI single in the seventh and scored on Jay Bruces double before Arrieta struck out Ryan Ludwick to complete his masterful night against one of the majors hottest lineups. Cincinnati had won three straight and nine of 12, averaging 6.7 runs and 10.2 hits per game in that stretch. The Cubs used four relievers to get through the eighth, and Ramirez finished Chicagos 12th win in 42 games against Cincinnati over the last three seasons. The Reds had runners at first and second in the eighth when third baseman Mike Olt made a nice diving stop on Todd Fraziers grounder for the final out of the inning. The start of the game was delayed 53 minutes by rain, but the pitchers adjusted quite nicely to the late start. Bailey retired his first 11 batters, striking out five. But Rizzo drove the first pitch he saw in the fourth inning into the basket in right-centre for the first of his three hits and his 17th homer this season. Castillo added a run-scoring double in the fifth, and the Cubs chased Bailey while scoring two more in the sixth. Nate Schierholtz had a sacrifice fly for the first of his two RBIs. Bailey allowed four hits, struck out six and walked two in his first loss at Wrigley since he pitched 5 1-3 innings in his first career appearance at the cozy neighbourhood ballpark on Sept. 13, 2009. The right-hander began the day with a 5-1 record and a 2.56 ERA in seven road starts against the Cubs. "Just bad pitch execution in the last inning or two," Bailey said. "That was probably the only thing I saw." NOTES: Hamilton extended his career-best hitting streak to 12 games. ... Cubs OF Emilio Bonifacio (rib injury) is working out, but has yet to resume baseball activities. "Hes improving," Renteria said. ... Reds RHP Mat Latos (0-0, 3.86 ERA) and Cubs RHP Edwin Jackson (5-7, 5.12 ERA) pitch in the series finale Wednesday. ' ' '