Memphis Grizzlies

Though the primary focus for the Clippers will be on re-signing Chris Paul and on whether the team keeps or releases Coach Vinny Del Negro, L.A. has other roster decisions to make as well. The players came in Saturday for their exit interviews with the front office a day after the Clippers were eliminated by the Memphis Grizzlies in a Western Conference first-round series. It was a Clippers team still coming to grips with having won the franchise's first-ever Pacific Division and finished with a team-best 56-26 record.

SAN ANTONIO - Stumbling in playoff series openers is nothing new for the Memphis Grizzlies. Of course, they've never experienced the kind of fall they did against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. San Antonio may have left Memphis with a bruised psyche to go with a 105-83 defeat Sunday at the AT&T Center, the Spurs turning the Grizzlies' strengths into glaring shortcomings with the same smart, disciplined approach that has characterized their four championship runs.

The Lakers (39-36) have climbed back into playoff position with a half-game lead over the Utah Jazz.  After winning two straight, the Lakers will be challenged Friday night as they host the Memphis Grizzlies (51-24) at Staples Center. Memphis plays some of the best defense in the league, holding teams to just 89.8 points a game. Offensively, the Grizzlies have weapons but as a group they average just 93.8 points a game. The Lakers will struggle to meet their season average at 102.3 a night against Memphis.

It is always easier to be critical when you don't have a dog in the fight, so let's go ahead. The NBA playoffs are in full swing. If we think hard, we in Los Angeles can remember what that's like. People flying purple flags out car windows. The Clippers going past the first round. Close your eyes and savor. Then open them so we can take a hard look at the game and the league that has built such a ga-ga fan base. As popular as it is, the NBA keeps edging closer to pro wrestling.

MEMPHIS - Grant Hill can see the end of his career coming. "I'm 99% sure this it, that this will be my last season," Hill said. But then Hill was asked to step into a void for the Clippers when Caron Butler was unable to play in the second half of the Clippers' 91-87 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday because of a sore right knee. Hill scored five points on two-for-three shooting, had one rebound and two blocked shots in 11 minutes 28 seconds. So, Hill was asked after the game in which he played a pivotal role, is he still thinking about retiring?

  The Clippers will open the 2012-13 NBA regular season at Staples Center on Oct. 31, against the Memphis Grizzlies, the team the Clippers defeated in seven games in the Western Conference first-round playoff series. The schedule favors the Clippers early on, because eight of their first nine games are in Los Angeles. Their first "away" game is Nov. 2 when the Clippers play the Lakers at Staples Center in the Lakers' designated home game in the arena both teams share. The Clippers also will play on Christmas Day for the second straight year, hosting the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center at 7:30 p.m. And another highlight game will come when the Clippers host the NBA champion Miami Heat Nov. 14 at Staples Center.

  It's the playoff rematch of the Clippers and the Memphis Grizzlies . They will be meeting in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs for the second consecutive season. And if this seven-game series that starts Saturday at Staples Center is anything like last year's, it will be another epic playoff between two teams that have a healthy dislike for each other. The Clippers won last year's series in historic fashion, taking Game 7 in Memphis against all odds.

O.J. Mayo had talked about being an NBA Hall of Famer going back to his days at USC, so his reaction was predictable last season when he was told he would be coming off the bench. Bench players and the Hall of Fame typically don't go together. "I was definitely mad at first," Mayo said Sunday before he and the Memphis Grizzlies played the Lakers at Staples Center. The shooting guard seemed headed in the wrong direction, going from runner-up to Derrick Rose in rookie-of-the-year voting and averaging 18 points during his first two NBA seasons to second-tier status.

The Memphis Grizzlies confirmed Wednesday they have agreed in principle to a contract with Allen Iverson , hours after the guard said on Twitter he was heading to Memphis. The team scheduled a news conference today at FedExForum. Iverson would become the highest-profile player ever to put on a Grizzlies uniform. "We anticipate signing him to a contract very soon," Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace said. The New Orleans Hornets agreed to trade reserve point guard Antonio Daniels and a 2014 second-round draft pick to Minnesota in exchange for forward Darius Songaila and guard Bobby Brown . Ronny Turiaf had a double-double and Tony Parker had 17 points to help France beat defending champion Russia, 69-64, and finish the group phase undefeated at the European basketball championship in Warsaw.

Though the primary focus for the Clippers will be on re-signing Chris Paul and on whether the team keeps or releases Coach Vinny Del Negro, L.A. has other roster decisions to make as well. The players came in Saturday for their exit interviews with the front office a day after the Clippers were eliminated by the Memphis Grizzlies in a Western Conference first-round series. It was a Clippers team still coming to grips with having won the franchise's first-ever Pacific Division and finished with a team-best 56-26 record.

Win or go home. It's the slogan for the NBA during the playoffs and it now applies to the Clippers. The reeling Clippers must beat the surging Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night, on the road, in Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series or L.A.'s season is over. If the Clippers find a way to win - something they haven't done in the last three games after winning the first two in this best-of-seven series - Game 7 would be Sunday at Staples Center.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Chris Paul sat in a chair wearing a red jacket, his night done early after he was ejected from the game with 2:29 left after getting his second technical foul. Matt Barnes sat in his chair with a towel over his head. Blake Griffin sat in his chair with both hands on his head, his sprained right ankle in a bucket of ice. The Clippers' locker room was mostly quiet after a 118-105 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 6 that eliminated L.A. from the Western Conference first-round playoffs.

The task the Clippers face in trying to deal with a tough Memphis Grizzlies team has become even more daunting. There is Blake Griffin's sprained right ankle that limited the All-Star forward to about 20 minutes in the Clippers' Game 5 loss Tuesday in the Western Conference playoffs. His X-rays were negative and an MRI showed no structural damage Wednesday. But the Clippers, who trail the Grizzlies, 3-2, have listed Griffin as a game-time decision for their win-or-go-home Game 6 at Memphis on Friday.

The Clippers have been pushed to the brink of playoff elimination despite a career effort from Chris Paul. Paul tried to carry the Clippers by himself because his running mate, Blake Griffin, could only play 19 minutes 34 seconds because of a sprained right ankle. But for as much as Paul did in tying his career playoff high with 35 points, he alone couldn't take down the Memphis Grizzlies, who won Game 5, 103-93, Tuesday night at Staples Center. BOX SCORE: Memphis 103, Clippers 93 After Memphis big men Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol combined for 46 points and 19 rebounds, the Clippers, who won the first two games in this series, now trail the Grizzlies, 3-2. Game 6 is Friday night in Memphis, where the Clippers lost Games 3 and 4 by an average of 16.5 points.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Clippers have lost all of their playoff momentum and it has left one of them questioning their manhood. They suffered their second straight double-digit loss in the first-round Western Conference series, this time going down in flames, 104-83, to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. Blake Griffin (19 points), Chris Paul (19) and Jamal Crawford (12) were the only Clippers to score in double figures. BOX SCORE: Memphis 104, Clippers 83 But that was only the beginning of their problems in Game 4 against a physical, hard-nosed Memphis team that won both of its games at the FedEx Forum to tie the best-of-seven series at 2-2. Game 5 is Tuesday night at Staples Center, with Game 6 back in Tennessee on Friday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - It was a rough day for Clippers starting guard Chauncey Billups. Billups missed all six of his shots from the field against the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 4 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series, and he didn't score. "I'm not really worried about me personally," Billups said. "Of course I want to be out there helping. " BOX SCORE: Memphis 104, Clippers 83 In his last three games, including Saturday's, Billups has been five for 20 from the field, three for 11 from three-point range and has scored just 16 points.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The stats don't lie. And in the case of the Clippers, the statistics told so much about why they lost, 94-82, to the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 3 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series on Thursday night at the FedEx Forum. The one statistic that now matters most to both teams is that the Clippers lead this best-of-seven series, 2-1. Game 4 is Saturday back here. After the game, the Clippers had written down many of the stat lines on the grease board inside their locker room.