losing streak, with Drmic bringing his season total to 15 goals

LOS ANGELES -- Doc Rivers couldnt begin the Los Angeles Clippers only day of preparation for Game 7 in the film room or on the practice court. The coach was downtown at the Clippers team offices Friday, meeting with an angry roomful of ticket-sellers and marketers still outraged by owner Donald Sterlings racist comments. "Ill say this much: Our players thought about not working. So did our employees, and they still felt that way," Rivers said. "They needed somebody to ask them to continue to work and support us. Were still trying to put this thing together." For both the Clippers and the Golden State Warriors, basketball has been secondary for much of this extraordinary series. But after the most tumultuous week in Clippers history, the first round is finally down to its grand finale. The Clippers will host a seventh game for the first time in franchise history on Saturday night, hoping to draw energy from their Staples Center crowd for a cathartic victory. The winner gets a second-round date with Oklahoma City or Memphis. "Weve got to protect home court," Clippers centre DeAndre Jordan said Friday. "Our season is tomorrow." The Warriors have been just one obstacle faced by the Clippers, who endured sleepless nights and immense scrutiny while their owner was exposed and subsequently banned for life from the NBA between playoff games. Los Angeles has lost two of three games since the Sterling saga began, playing lifelessly in Game 4 before struggling along with the Warriors in Game 6 on Thursday night. When the Clippers went back to work Friday, Sterling-related memorabilia had been removed from the trophy case in the hallway at their palatial $60 million training complex built by Sterling six years ago. Even the "Sterling Drive" sign outside the Playa Vista facility had been taken down. The Clippers missed their chance to wrap the series in Oakland, but the Pacific Division champions played all year for the chance to finish a series on their home court. "Its going to be tough, and youre going to face adversity, and we clearly have faced adversity in this round," said Blake Griffin, who managed just 17 points on 8-for-24 shooting in Game 6. "I think its just important that we all stayed the course and had positive thoughts about it. It is a Game 7, but its still a playoff game. It doesnt change a whole lot." Neither team plans to spend much time working on tactics or adjustments after six games of seeing everything their opponent has to offer. Both teams arent saying much about various nagging injuries, from Chris Pauls strained left hamstring for the Clippers to Jermaine ONeals sprained right knee for Golden State. Instead, two relatively inexperienced playoff teams are eager to show off everything theyve learned about perseverance and toughness over the past two weeks, culminating in a rare winner-take-all finish to their series. "Im not sure that both teams love each other, but Im pretty positive that both teams have tremendous respect for each other," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. The Clippers core played a Game 7 two years ago, beating Memphis on the road for just their second playoff series victory since Sterling bought the team in 1981. Jordan and Griffin said there was little to draw from that victory, with Jordan barely remembering it. The Warriors havent played a Game 7 since 1977, no surprise for a franchise with just three playoff berths in the last 20 years. When asked if an injury could keep him out of Game 7, Paul scoffed. "Ill be there," Paul said. "Seven-thirty, that balls throwed up, Ill be there. Cant wait." Even with the Clippers on the front page during this series, Golden State has plenty of its own internal drama. Jackson could be coaching his final game for the Warriors after the club ownerships reluctance to publicly back his return despite the most successful two-year stretch in two decades. "I think weve had more controversy than them throughout this whole season that gets overlooked, kind of thrown under the rug a little bit," Golden States Andre Iguodala said. "Weve had some battles this year weve had to deal with, but its kept us together and made us stronger." Michael Thomas Womens Jersey . Gaborik was acquired in a trade with Columbus on Wednesday and skated on the top line with centre Anze Kopitar and right-winger Justin Williams. "We created some things," said Gaborik, who logged 16:38 of ice time. Ryan Ramczyk Womens Jersey . The 20-year-old Inoue landed a series of combinations and the bout was stopped 2 minutes, 54 seconds into the sixth round. Inoue, the first Japanese boxer to claim a world title in just his sixth professional fight, improved to 6-0 with five knockouts. http://www.shoptheofficialsaints.com/Elite-Sheldon-Rankins-Saints-Jersey/ . That Ginette Reno can sing. Rickey Jackson Womens Jersey .She struggled with a hacking cough, she was sick, and she twice celebrated too early, but she held her composure in a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory on Saturday.On her third match point, she let her racket go before hearing a let call to what she thought was an ace. Sam Mills Youth Jersey . -- Jonathan Diaz is easy to spot in the Blue Jays clubhouse.FRANKFURT, Germany -- Former Bundesliga champion Stuttgart fell into the relegation zone on Wednesday by losing 2-0 at Nuremberg, and Hamburg also came closer to dropping into second division by drawing 1-1 at home to Freiburg on Wednesday. One day after Bayern Munich clinched its 24th league title, two storied clubs found themselves facing an uphill battle to avoid being demoted. Nuremberg lifted itself from the relegation zone with its win after a brace by Josip Drmic. Freiburg stayed in 15th place, two points ahead of Hamburg, another former champion and the only club never to be relegated from the Bundesliga. A 16th-place finish means a playoff against a second-division team for a place in the top division. Stuttgart and Hamburg are three points above bottom Eintracht Braunschweig. Bayer Leverkusen won 3-1 in Augsburg to end a nine-game run without a victory in all competitions, Eintracht Frankfurt edged Borussia Moenchengladbach 1-0 and Hoffenheim edged 10-man Hannover 3-1. Stuttgart won the last of its three championships in 2007 but the club is now two points from safety, just like Hamburg. Wednesdays loss hurt even more because it came against a direct rival in the bbattle against relegation.dddddddddddd Nuremberg ended a four-match losing streak, with Drmic bringing his season total to 15 goals by scoring either side of halftime. Striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga returned after missing three games through injury to salvage one point for Hamburg, which fell behind in the 50th through a goal by Vladimir Darida. But Lassoga notched the equalizer five minutes later. Hoffenheim and Frankfurt all but made sure of avoiding demotion. Hannover lost Manuel Schmiedebach to a red card in the 75th but by then Hoffenheim was already 2-1 up and Sebastian Rudy secured the victory in injury time. Leon Andreasen put Hannover ahead but Eugen Polanski and Anthony Modeste then scored for Hoffenheim. Striker Joselu scored a first-half goal for Frankfurts second consecutive victory. Leverkusen had lost five of its last six in the Bundesliga but Stefan Kiessling scored his 13th goal of the season to put his team ahead, Augsburg pulled one back through Tobias Werner, but Son Heung-min and Emre Can scored late in the match to secure Leverkusens win. Leverkusen strengthened its grip on fourth place and has three points more than Wolfsburg in fifth. ' ' '