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LOS ANGELES -- When Blake Griffin soared past Stephen Curry and hammered home his one-handed rebound of Danny Grangers missed jumper, the slam emphasized everything thats so impressive about the Los Angeles Clippers nine-game winning streak. The Clippers are on this roll against good teams, at a perfect time for their playoff preparations -- and just like Griffins mind-blowing dunk, theyre doing it with style. Griffin had 30 points and 15 rebounds, Granger added 18 points off the bench, and the Clippers surged past the Golden State Warriors 111-98 Wednesday night. Chris Paul had 16 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds for the Clippers, who split their four-game season series against their Pacific Division rivals with an impressive finish to a tight game. "This is the time of year when you want to be playing your best," Griffin said. "Our fight has been great. Whoever is on the court ... up 10 or down 10, I think weve come to a point where it doesnt really matter. We stick together and try to pull it out." Griffin was in top form on both ends of the court, punctuating his latest monster performance with that rebound slam with 8:18 to play. The four-time All-Star has scored 20 points in 24 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in the NBA this season. Los Angeles has the third-longest winning streak in club history and the teams best record after 66 games (46-20), but the Clippers dont seem satisfied by their five-game lead over Golden State in the division standings. "Its impressive, because for the most part, weve been playing good teams," Granger said after his fifth game with the Clippers. "You really want to peak at this time going into the playoffs, because if a team is hitting on all cylinders, you look up and youre in the finals." Klay Thompson scored 26 points and David Lee had 20 for the Warriors, whose five-game winning streak ended with their fourth straight loss to the Clippers at Staples Center. Curry had just 13 points and 11 assists before sitting out the final minutes. Golden State got an impressive game from Thompson, but its normally reliable bench went 3 for 25, struggling mightily for most of the second half. "Weve been playing great basketball against some good teams, and we thought we could come in here and play very well and get a win," Curry said. "It didnt turn out that way, but one loss isnt going to stop us. Were going to continue that momentum, that rhythm." Los Angeles held Golden State to just one field goal in a 9:40 stretch spanning the final two quarters. The Warriors stayed in it with defence and free throws, but Darren Collison scored six quick points down the stretch in the fourth quarter, and Matt Barnes 3-pointer with 1:25 to play essentially sealed the win. The California clubs completed their series with another demonstration of the reasons they might have the West Coasts best current rivalry, although both teams agree they need playoff stakes to develop true enmity. "All four games this year have been very competitive games," Lee said. "Both teams took care of their homecourt. I think were two pretty evenly matched teams that have big plans for the post-season, so we look forward to seeing what happens the rest of the season. These last three games weve played felt like playoff-style games." Granger kept the Clippers in it during a rocky first-half stretch, making his first six shots without a miss in about 11 minutes. Los Angeles rolled off a 15-3 run to close the third quarter with an 84-79 lead, scoring nine straight points capped by Pauls 3-pointer on a crosscourt assist from Griffin with 0.1 seconds left. NOTES: Paul missed eight of his first nine shots and struggled all night under tight defence from Thompson. Paul went back out on the Staples Center court after the game with an assistant coach to work on his shot after his 5-for-15 effort. ... Clippers G Jamal Crawford sat out for the fifth time in six games with a strained left calf. Jared Dudley returned from a three-game absence with back spasms, but played just one minute. ... Griffin grabbed his 3,000th career rebound late in the first half. He is the third player in NBA history to have 6,000 points, 3,000 boards and 1,000 assists in his first four full NBA seasons while also making 50 per cent of his shots, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Charles Barkley. Bryan Trottier Penguins Jersey . Particularly when speaking in the stadium of Tuesdays opponent: Manchester City. "Maybe they dont fear us as before," Pique said on Monday, "because in the last two years we didnt win the Champions League. Kris Letang Penguins Jersey . A player confirmed to TSN on the condition of anonymity that he received his ballot yesterday. 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There is no doubt that Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was the one responsible for spoiling Brazils hopes of another World Cup victory at its home tournament.Despite having a starting rotation riddled with injuries, the Atlanta Braves have still managed to ride their stellar starting pitching to top spot in the TSN.ca MLB Power Rankings, ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics. Early-season surprises can shift the rankings dramatically, but the Braves have been getting lights-out stuff from Aaron Harang, Ervin Santana, Alex Wood and Julio Teheran. The Brewers, ranked at 12 in the preseason, are up to two, with their own impressive pitching, including closer Francisco Rodriguez, who is striking people out, despite decreased velocity. Like the Braves, the Oakland As have injuries to deal with in their starting rotation, but they have also received four strong starts from 30-year-old journeyman Jesse Chavez. If Chavez is for real, he could be one of the great stories of this season. Moving from 22 in the preseason to four, the Colorado Rockies have been raking like nothing else at home. As a team, they have a .985 OPS at Coors Field, compared to just .662 on the road, but they also have the second-best run differential in the National League. The Toronto Blue Jays are one of the pleasant surprises, following a disastrous 20113 season, and decent pitching has lifted them from 25 in the preseason to 12.dddddddddddd Coming into the year, the rankings were not optimistic for the New York Yankees, pegging the pinstripers at 16, but early returns from starting pitchers Michael Pineda and Masahiro Tanaka have given the Yankees hope, despite a lineup full of holes. The Yankees rivals, the Boston Red Sox, have stumbled out of the gate and, as a result, are at 21, after opening the season in second spot. Hopes were higher for the Cleveland Indians too, ranked 11 coming into the season, but they sit at 23, with some of their highly-touted young players struggling. Following last years breakout season, the Pittsburgh Pirates came into the year ranked fifth, but quiet bats leave them at 24 with this update. Finally, no team can compare to the Arizona Diamondbacks for disappointment. They werent necessarily going to be great, ranked 19th coming into the season, but they are on pace for 35 wins. They even found a way to get ranked below the Houston Astros! Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '