Dein erstes Forum » in the crowd cheering on his beloved Cubs.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A veteran team that sees the big picture, the Los Angeles Clippers were a bit subdued following their latest victory.Blake Griffin had 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Clippers built a large lead and then held off the Sacramento Kings 121-115 on Friday night.The Clippers (11-2) have won eight of nine and own the NBAs best record. They led by 26 points in the opening half and are unbeaten in six road games this season. But no one in the Los Angeles locker room felt good about letting the struggling Kings back in the game.A win is a win, but its kind of frustrating, Chris Paul said. We expect more from each other.Trailing by 19 points entering the fourth quarter, the Kings cut the margin to 117-115 on Matt Barnes free throw with 2:03 remaining. Los Angeles responded with a dunk by DeAndre Jordan before Paul made two free throws to push the lead back to six.Sacramento never scored again.They went small and it felt like they scored every time down, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. It felt like we were in the North Carolina four-corner offense. Its great to win, but we want to be better than that.DeMarcus Cousins helped fuel the comeback with 38 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Kings.Barnes had 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, when Sacramento outscored Los Angeles 30-17.Once again, were just waiting at the last minute to play with energy, Cousins said. Its all fun and exciting in the end, but these games are going to continue to get harder for us if we wait until the last quarter.Ty Lawson added 18 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Kings, and Darren Collison scored 16. Barnes had 10 fourth-quarter points and made four of Sacramentos 10 3-pointers to finish with 15.J.J. Redick hit six 3s and scored 22 of his 26 points in the first half for the Clippers. Jordan had 16 points and 12 rebounds, Austin Rivers finished with 12 points and Paul added 11 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds.Redick, who connected on his first six 3-point attempts, has made a 3 in 69 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NBA.J.J. got it going (in the first quarter) and we did whatever we could to get it back to him, Rivers said.It was the fourth straight loss for the Kings. They are 2-4 at home, where they face Toronto, Oklahoma City and Houston the next three games.Kings coach Dave Joerger experimented with a smaller lineup that featured Lawson and Collison in the backcourt.Im going to play small going forward. Ive seen enough, Joerger said. DeMarcus is going to play center. I dont know who else is going to play with him, but it gives us more zip.TIP-INSClippers: Los Angeles shot 5 of 18 in the fourth quarter, yet still wound up shooting 52.6 percent overall. ... Playing his first game of the season, Paul Pierce made his first two shots, a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter. ... Paul missed his first five shots and didnt have a basket until late in the third.Kings: Lawson hit a 3 and converted a free throw for a four-point play in the first quarter. ... Taking turns guarding Griffin in the first quarter, Kosta Koufos and Willie Cauley-Stein combined for five fouls. Griffin made seven of eight free throws. ... Cousins made a shot from near halfcourt to end the first half.HOT STARTLos Angeles enjoyed its most productive half of the season, shooting 70 percent and leading 73-54 at the break. The Clippers had 17 assists and went 10 of 13 from 3-point range. They got superior play from their starters -- and the reserves were productive as well, contributing 23 points.That first half was beautiful. I dont know if we can play any better than that, Rivers said.MAIN MANGriffin was too much for the Kings, shooting 7 of 15 from the field and making 15 of 16 free throws. He also had two steals and a block in just under 37 minutes.UP NEXTClippers: Los Angeles hosts Chicago on Saturday night.Kings: NBA scoring leader DeMar DeRozan and the Toronto Raptors visit Sacramento on Sunday night. Cheap Braves Jerseys . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. Custom Atlanta Braves Jerseys . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. https://www.cheapbraves.com/ . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. Braves Jerseys China .Y. -- Bills receiver Stevie Johnson has a bone to pick with the NFL schedule maker. Atlanta Braves Pro Shop . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. CHICAGO -- Jon Lester gave the Chicago Cubs a chance, Javier Baez supplied the power and Aroldis Chapman finished the job.A positive playoff opener for a city draped in W flags and hoping for a historic championship.Lester outpitched Johnny Cueto with eight sparkling innings, Baez homered in the eighth and Chicago beat the San Francisco Giants 1-0 in a tense Game 1 of their NL Division Series on Friday night.Lester retired his last 13 batters in a dominant performance, but the game was scoreless when Baez sent a towering drive into a stiff wind. With a raucous crowd of 42,148 and every player anxiously tracking the flight of the ball, left fielder Angel Pagan ran out of room as it landed in the basket that tops the ivy-covered walls at Wrigley Field.Baez thought it was surely gone as soon as the ball left the bat.I forgot about the wind, he said. The winds blowing straight in, and I hit it really good. Good thing it just barely went.Chicagos relievers in the bullpen in foul territory down the left-field line broke into cheers as Baez rounded the bases with the delirious crowd in a frenzy. Baez then came out of the dugout for a curtain call.Just waiting for him to make a mistake and he finally did, Baez said.Chapman allowed Buster Poseys two-out double off the ivy in the ninth before Hunter Pence bounced to second for the final out, wrapping a bow on Chicagos first meaningful game in weeks.Lesters $155 million, six-year deal in December 2014 was a key moment in the Cubs turnaround from also-ran to contender. They clinched the NL Central title on Sept. 15 and led the majors with 103 wins this year, but have their sights set on the franchises first World Series crown since 1908.I kind of figured as we got going it would come down to one mistake and luckily we didnt make one and they did, Lester said. And I think thats just kind of the beginning of the series.Game 2 is Saturday night.Cueto was outstanding, following up Madison Bumgarners four-hitter in San Franciscos wild-card win at New York with his own gem. The right-hander, deftly varying his delivery to keep the Cubs off balance, struck out 10 and allowed three hits in his second straight complete game in the postseason.We both were pitching a great ballgame and obviously we knew -- we were aware that one run was going to decide the game, Cueto said through a translator.Baezs homer stopped San Franciscos postseason scoreless streak at 23 innings dating to the World Series in 2014. The Giants also won it all in 2010 and 2012, leading to talk of even-year magic for manager Bruce Bochys club, but it was the Cubs with the good fortune in the series opener, a strange turn of events for the usually snake-bitten franchise.ddddddddddddhe Giants had at least one hit in each of the first four innings, including leadoff singles in the first three, but Lester held them off each time. The left-hander got some help from his usual catcher, with David Ross throwing out Gorkys Hernandez trying to steal second in the first and picking off wild-card hero Conor Gillaspie at first in the third.San Francisco had runners on second and third after left fielder Ben Zobrist misplayed Pagans sinking liner into a fourth-inning double, but Brandon Crawford bounced out to end the inning.We had a couple chances there. We just couldnt get the key hit, Bochy said.Cueto retired his first 10 batters and had the Cubs shaking their heads all night long. He also got some timely help from his defense.Hernandez got revenge on Ross with an outstanding, sliding catch on the warning track in left-center in the third. Kelby Tomlinson, starting at second in place of Joe Panik with the lefty Lester on the mound, robbed Zobrist of a two-out RBI single in the fourth, then took a hit away from Anthony Rizzo with another diving stop in the seventh.SEENActor and comedian Bill Murray was in the crowd cheering on his beloved Cubs. He did his best to bust the teams infamous curse, wearing a shirt that read: I Aint Afraid of No Goat.Rocker Eddie Vedder, Chicago Bulls stars Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook each got a loud cheer when they were shown on the videoboard in left field. Wearing a white Kris Bryant jersey, former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka fired up the crowd before the first pitch.Its time to play ball, he said while standing in front of the home dugout. Go Cubs Go!UP NEXTGiants: Jeff Samardzija gets the ball in Game 2 for his first postseason start in the same place he began his major league career. The right-hander was drafted by the Cubs in 2006 and spent his first 6 1/2 seasons with the team before he was traded to Oakland in the 2014 deal that brought shortstop Addison Russell to the Cubs.Cubs: Coming off a breakout season, Kyle Hendricks makes his third career playoff start. The right-hander went 16-8 with a major league-best 2.13 ERA this year. He was nearly unhittable at home, going 9-2 with a 1.32 ERA in 15 games.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap ' ' '