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LOS ANGELES — Blake Griffin has become the first player in the history of the Los Angeles Clippers franchise with three consecutive games of 30 or more points. Garrison Mathews Jersey . And hes made it look easy, even without Chris Pauls help. Griffin scored 19 of his 36 points in the first quarter and Jamal Crawford added 21, leading the Clippers to a 118-105 victory over the Toronto Raptors in a matchup of division leaders Friday night. „I expected greatness, but Blakes done some things we didnt know he could do,“ coach Doc Rivers said. „Clearly, were taking advantage of him in the open court with the ball. And hell be even better when Chris comes back.“ DeAndre Jordan had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the defending Pacific Division champions, who are 12-6 since Paul separated his right shoulder on Jan. 3. „When it first happened, we didnt know how long it would be at that time,“ Crawford said. „Me and Blake understood what it meant, and that more was expected of us. But its been a total team effort, and thats a credit to the coaching staff. They always keep us prepared. You saw how things went for Doc in the past with Boston when he lost Rondo and had K.G. in and out of the lineup. But he never made excuses, and he wasnt going to allow himself to make excuses this time no matter who was out.“ Griffin, who had 36 points at Denver and 43 against Miami in the Clippers previous two games, capped his dominant opening quarter on a 20-footer with 2.4 seconds on the clock to give the Clippers a 29-22 lead. Crawford, who had 37 points in the previous meeting between the teams, burned the Raptors for 14 points in the second quarter while starting again for the injured J.J. Redick. „Their bigs created some problems. And when youve got a player like Jamal Crawford, it can definitely get tough,“ Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan said. „Thats why you cant give them any leeway. Youve got to fight with them to the end.“ Jordan attempted 22 free throws and converted a career-high 10, after entering the game averaging 43.4 per cent from the foul line. „I think they started fouling him when they were down 18. And when they stopped it, they were down 17,“ Rivers said. „Its like when they intentionally walk people in baseball — and thats no fun to watch. I would say it changed the rhythm of the game, because we had a great pace and we never got back to that. But as far as the score, it really didnt change anything.“ The Clippers, coming off a 116-112 loss to the NBA champion Miami Heat on Wednesday, are 4-6 against the other five first-place clubs. They havent dropped back-to-back home games in the regular season since Nov. 3-5, 2012, against Golden State and Cleveland. DeRozan had 36 points and eight assists for the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors, who concluded their 2-3 road trip with their fourth straight loss to the Clippers at Staples Center. They lead the Brooklyn Nets by three games in the standings. Terrence Ross, who tied Vince Carters single-season franchise record with 51 points in the Raptors 126-118 loss to the Clippers on Jan. 25 at Toronto, picked up two fouls in the first quarter and finished with nine points in 28 minutes on 3-for-10 shooting. Amir Johnson hit Griffin in the head with his left arm as the four-time All-Star drove the lane on an attempted slam dunk with 9:50 left in the third quarter. The call was a flagrant 1 foul after referees James Capers, Mark Lindsay and Matt Boland viewed the replay at the scorers table, and Griffin converted both free throws for a 75-56 lead. Less than 3 minutes later, Jordan blocked a short jumper by Kyle Lowry, leading to a 3-pointer by Matt Barnes that widened the gap to 82-60, the Clippers biggest lead of the game. Griffin got his fifth foul and took a seat with 5:16 left in the third, but by then the Clippers had built an 84-66 cushion. Toronto ended the quarter with a 10-1 spurt, slicing its deficit to 92-83, but they got no closer. Willie Green helped seal the victory with a pair of 3-pointers 1:24 apart. The Clippers were 9 for 24 from behind the arc, improving to 22-0 when making at least nine. NOTES: Paul was cleared on Thursday to play in Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, with the 18-32 Lakers serving as the opening act against Chicago in the Staples Center doubleheader. … DeRozan is the first USC player to be selected to play in an All-Star Game since Gus Williams in 1983, when the Lakers hosted the event at the Forum. … Ross will be trying to defend his All-Star slam-dunk title on Feb. 15 at New Orleans. Archie Clark Jersey . The above paragraph could be rewritten, verbatim, with Marcus Stromans name in place of Romeros. After both men had disastrous outings in Tuesdays 18-4 mauling at the hands of the Tigers, its clear that neither is the best option to begin the season in Toronto. Jeff Malone Jersey . Granato was an assistant for the Pittsburgh Penguins for the last five seasons, and he was also part of Team USAs staff at the 2014 Olympics.SAN DIEGO – There was no way the Chargers could get through Sunday without doing some serious scoreboard watching. Buffalos 19-0 win against Miami was being shown on the scoreboard video screen while the Chargers were warming up for their game against Oakland. Updates of New Englands 41-7 victory against Baltimore were shown during the game. „I was going to know, somehow,“ said quarterback Philip Rivers, whose Chargers needed both Miami and Baltimore to lose to stay alive in the race for the AFCs second wild-card spot. The Chargers still had to do their part, which they did with a 26-13 victory against the hapless Raiders. San Diego overcame three turnovers while benefiting from two turnovers and 12 penalties for 73 yards by the Raiders. The Chargers (8-7), who have won three straight games for the first time this season, head into their finale still needing help. They have to beat Kansas City at home while needing Baltimore to lose at Cincinnati and Miami to lose at home to the New York Jets. „All three went our way today, including the one we had our control in,“ Rivers said. „Same boat next week. We need all three to go our way. The only one we can control is the one here against the Chiefs.“ Rivers threw a go-ahead, 4-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen with 5 minutes left in the third quarter and Ryan Mathews ran for 99 yards and one touchdown, setting a career high with 1,111 yards. Nick Novak kicked four field goals for San Diego. Mathews limped to the locker room in the fourth quarter but later returned to the game. He left the stadium wearing a protective boot on his left foot. „The Chargers are still beating and I know no one wants to play us right now, thats for sure,“ said safety Eric Weddle, who had an interception. Oakland could have pulled within one score, but Rod Streater couldnt hold on to Matt McGloins 39-yard pass as he came down in the end zone with 4:38 left. Oakland challenged but the ruling was upheld. Oakland turned it over on downs with 54 seconds left and lost its fifth straight game. „It shouldnt have been close, but they dont give you any extra points for winning by a bigger margin,“ Rivers said. „Just find a way to win.“ Oakland (4-11) helped San Diego, too, by committing a dozen penalties. Mike Jenkins was penalized 115 yards for taunting Mathews after he pushed the running back out of bounds. Rod Strickland Jersey. Allen scored six plays later. „We had too many penalties,“ Raiders coach Dennis Allen said. „A lot of our penalties, specifically defensively, came on third down, which allowed them to extend some drives.“ The game was tied at 10 after a sloppy first half that included three turnovers by the Chargers and seven penalties for 39 yards by the Raiders. The only score of the first half that wasnt set up by a turnover was a 27-yard field goal by Novak in the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, Rivers wasnt ready for a shotgun snap and the ball bounced off him for a fumble that was recovered by former San Diego State linebacker Miles Burris at the Raiders 42. The drive stayed alive when Mychal Rivera leaped to catch a 37-yard pass from McGloin, and Darren McFadden scored on a 5-yard run on the next play for a 7-3 Oakland lead. Rivers was picked off by Mike Jenkins to end San Diegos next drive, but Weddle then intercepted McGloin at the Raiders 20, deflecting the ball to himself. That set up Mathews 7-yard run and the Chargers regained the lead at 10-7. San Diego forced the Raiders to punt from their 40 but rookie Keenan Allens fumble was recovered by Shelton Johnson at the 16. The Raiders had to settle for Sebastian Janikowskis tying 20-yard field goal with 10 seconds left before halftime. „Really, the series of the game was us holding them to a field goal at the end of the half,“ Weddle said. „That gave us some momentum. We made it interesting for a while but the better team won today. Just a great team win to have everything on the line and to struggle for a little bit but to show some character and toughness to overcome those issues we had. Novak kicked three more field goals in the second half, from 48, 28 and 33 yards. Janikowski added a 42-yarder. „We were right there in the game,“ Oaklands Charles Woodson said, referring to the halftime tie. „There really wasnt a whole lot that needed to be fixed. It was a close ballgame, our game to go out there and win.“ NOTES: Chargers tight end John Phillips injured a knee in the first quarter and didnt return. Chargers safety Marcus Gilchrist was shaken up in the second quarter but returned. ‚ ‚ ‚