Raonic errors. Raonic went back to work, setting

LOS ANGELES -- Doc Rivers push to transform DeAndre Jordan into a dominant interior defender is already paying dividends. Challenged by Rivers before the season began to win the NBAs defensive player of the year award, Jordan is working toward the honour with the kind of performance he had against the Pelicans. Jordan had 14 points and 20 rebounds -- two off his career high -- and Blake Griffin had 21 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 4:05 left in the Los Angeles Clippers 108-95 victory Wednesday night. "Its fun to take on that challenge," Jordan said. "Its part of my job to be energetic. If Im not playing well I can still play with energy and that spark to get other guys going." Chris Paul added his own double-double against his former team, with 12 points and 11 assists in the Clippers third straight win. "Outstanding," Paul said of Jordans effort. "He had five blocks, too. He was MVP of the game. We were a little sluggish. D.J. kept telling us, Come on, fellas." Jared Dudley had 20 points, one of seven Clippers in double figures. Jamal Crawford scored 17 points, making 10 of 11 free throws, and Darren Collison added 14, hitting all nine of his free throws. "D.J. kept us in it with his defence and rebounding," Clippers coach Rivers said. "Hes just going after things. He accepts his role and hes become a star in it. Hes still going to score by doing all of that stuff." Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 24 points and 12 rebounds in his return after missing seven games with a broken left hand. "Its great just to get back out there with my teammates, have fun and do the things that Im used to doing," he said. "Ive got to get back in a rhythm. You can work out for as much as you want and train as much as you want, but that game rhythm is a lot different. Hopefully it wont take me long to get my shot back and the plays I usually make and get back in the groove." Ryan Anderson added 17 points, Jrue Holiday had 13 points and 10 assists, and Tyreke Evans had a triple-double of 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists after missing the past two games with a sprained left ankle. "When I got in and started running up and down the floor, it was a little tight. But coach kept me out there and it got looser," Evans said. "It was big (getting himself and Davis back), but were going to need everybody on this team. Everybodys a big key, but were still learning to play with each other." Austin Rivers, the 21-year-old son of Doc Rivers, had two points while playing 14 minutes in a reserve role. "Its my first time beating him so thats nice," said the elder Rivers, whose wife watched the game on TV. "She was cheering for Austin 100 per cent." New Orleans lost for the third straight game and fifth time in its past seven. The Clippers reserves carried them in the fourth when Griffin didnt score before fouling out. Willie Green hit two of their five 3-pointers in the quarter, with Dudley adding two of his four and Paul tossing one in, too. "We kept a double-digit lead but you never felt comfortable because we couldnt pull away," Rivers said. "We played pretty flat." The Clippers pulled away in the third after the Pelicans closed within four points. Crawford beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer, launching a 15-2 run that extended the Clippers lead to 70-53. Griffin scored six points. Davis scored the Pelicans final four points to get them to 78-65 heading into the fourth. NOTES: With no practice Thursday, comedy fan Griffin said he planned to see Will Ferrell in "Anchorman 2." ... Clippers F Matt Barnes dressed and was cleared to play, but didnt as he returns from surgery to repair a torn retina in his left eye. ... Former Clippers Eric Gordon (nine points) and Al-Farouq Aminu (six points) both started against their former team. Jordan 12 Cheap Real . The Canucks figured to be active prior to Wednesdays trade deadline, getting a jump on things the previous day when they dealt goaltender Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers for netminder Jacob Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias. Cheap Jordans 12 . Five straight losses (and six in the past seven) now dot the schedule – matching their longest skid of the year – after they fell again in New Jersey on Sunday night, topped 3-2 by Cory Schneider and the Devils. http://www.wholesaleairjordan12.com/ . The traditional pre-Masters event was halted early due to inclement weather. Harrington, who tied for first in 2003 and won in 2004, became the first three-time champion of the event. Air Jordan Retro 12 Wholesale . Mark Van Guilder, Austin Watson and Colton Sissons also scored for the Admirals (22-13-10), who are 2-0-2 in their last four outings, while Roussel tacked on an assist for a two-point night. Greg Pateryn scored once for the Bulldogs (20-22-4), who lost their fifth straight contest, and also assisted on Gabriel Dumonts goal. Wholesale Jordan 12 China . Pospisil, the seventh seed, saved match points in each of the last two sets before falling to the unseeded Dutchman. "I wasnt very happy with the way I was playing,"said Pospisil.MIAMI -- Canadian Milos Raonic knows what fuelled the 100th hardcourt victory of his professional career. The 23-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., defeated Germanys Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday in the fourth round of the Sony Open in just 89 minutes. "It was good Timbits," joked Raonic. He then explained that his goal was to advance to the quarter-finals of the Sony Open, a tournament he had struggled in in the past two years. "I think that is a bonus on getting the win, which was the main focus," said Raonic of his 100th hardcourt victory. Raonic will play top seed Rafael Nadal, who beat Italian Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-2 in 62 minutes. Nadal has won all four matches hes had with Raonic. "When he gets ahead in the points hes difficult to keep up with," said Raonic. "I have to get ahead in the points early and stay ahead. And obviously serving, as well, is going to be key. "I think the biggest difficulty of playing Rafa is there is really nobody that plays like him, so whenever you come up against him in the tournament its quite different." On Tuesday, Raonic was frustrated on his first two match point chances in the final game as he tried to end the ccontest with a break of Beckers serve.dddddddddddd But Becker thwarted the 12th seed on both winning occasions thanks to Raonic errors. Raonic went back to work, setting up another match-winner with an overhead from deep in the backcourt only to have Becker save it. Raonic finally claimed victory after a second set which lasted one hour. "I was not losing any points on my serve pretty much, but I was not dealing with it the right way when he was getting a few returns back in play," said Raonic. Raonic will wait for an opponent as top seed Rafael Nadal faces Italian 14th seed Fabio Fognini. Raonic stands 0-4 against Nadal and split with Fognini in a pair of 2013 matches. Reaching the quarter-finals was a breakthrough for Raonic, who has stalled at the third round at the last two Sony Opens. He had to withdraw with strep throat at last years edition after going out injured the year before in a walkover to Andy Murray. Despite landing heavily on his left leg and wearing kinesio tape on much of his back, Raonic insisted he is not suffering physically. "The are just really, really minor things that are little nicks, but nothing that affects me in any way," he said. ' ' '