Memphis Grizzlies

The Lakers are coming off an impressive win against their arch-rival against the Boston Celtics. But that took place at home. Now the Lakers (25-16) are on the road. Not only do the Lakers have to find a way to improve their 7-14 road record. They have to do so against the Memphis Grizzlies (24-16), which have a 15-5 mark at FedEx Field and are slated as a fifth seed in the Western Conference. Join the Lakers-Grizzlies chat by clicking the link above

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — He tried. As best he could, Blake Griffin tried to give the Clippers what he had, what he could summon in Game 7 of the Western Conference first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday afternoon. But Griffin's knee wouldn't cooperate the way he wanted it to, his sprained left knee refusing to hold up all game. So Griffin gave the Clippers 28 minutes 17 seconds and eight points, four rebounds and two blocked shots. "There just were movements I couldn't do and I wanted to do," Griffin said.

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 Clippers have put themselves in this predicament, on the verge of making NBA history -- and not in a good way. They suffered a 90-88 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at Staples Center in Game 6, leaving their best-of-seven first-round playoff series tied at 3-3. The Clippers have lost two straight games and now must play a seventh game on the road, with Blake Griffin (sprained left knee) and Chris Paul (strained right hip flexor) still not close to 100% healthy.

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.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Many Memphians filed out of churches after Sunday services ended and headed to Beale Street, swelling the famous strip to its edges, guzzling down beer and wine - the street hosted the city's annual "Great Wine Race" - as dusk approached. Then scores funneled into the building they call "The Grindhouse" in honor of their team's "grit-and-grind" style of play to watch the Memphis Grizzlies play host to a playoff series for the first time in franchise history.

The Clippers have put themselves in this predicament, on the verge of making NBA history -- and not in a good way. They suffered a 90-88 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at Staples Center in Game 6, leaving their best-of-seven first-round playoff series tied at 3-3. The Clippers have lost two straight games and now must play a seventh game on the road, with Blake Griffin (sprained left knee) and Chris Paul (strained right hip flexor) still not close to 100% healthy.

"You take the best darned player. If you have two players who are equal, take the bigger one.... Hopefully, you learn to speak Chinese." Jerry West, president of the Memphis Grizzlies, on 7-foot-5 Yao Ming's prospects in the NBA draft.

The Clippers' five-game trip ends tonight with an exhibition game against the Orlando Magic at the Ice Palace in Tampa, Fla. All things considered, it's been a good trip, with the team winning three consecutive after a lackluster loss in the first game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Coach Alvin Gentry has not used his top players in crunch time, yet the Clippers have had solid fourth quarters in victories over Dallas, Chicago and Cleveland.

Lakers Tonight at Memphis Grizzlies When: 5 PST. Where: FedExForum. On the air: TV: Channel 9; Radio: 710; 1330. Records: Lakers 13-4, Grizzlies 7-10. Record vs. Grizzlies: 1-0. Update: Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said he expects a "very difficult" game from Memphis. Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo, the former USC star, has come off the bench in the last three games. Mayo is averaging a career-low 13.6 points per game on 39% shooting; rookie Xavier Henry has been starting in Mayo's place.

Chris Paul thought Caron Butler was "crazy" for playing in Game 3 of the first-round playoff series against Memphis with a fractured left hand. Paul also said he had to commend Butler for gutting out 22 minutes of pain Saturday afternoon at Staples Center. Butler was injured in the third quarter of Game 1 in Memphis last Sunday night. He didn't play in Game 2 and was supposed to be sidelined four to six weeks recovering from the injury. But Butler practiced Friday and decided to play Sunday.

  On Saturday evening at Staples Center, the Clippers will play in their first playoff game in Los Angeles in six years. "Well, I think the place will be going nuts," NBA analyst Charles Barkley said on TNT's "Inside the NBA. " "You know, they haven't been to the playoffs in a long time and obviously with Lob City and Chris Paul and everything, they're very excitable. I think it's going to be a fantastic atmosphere. " The Clippers' first-round Western Conference playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies is tied at 1-1. Games 1 and 2 were played in Memphis.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — This time, there was no comeback by the Clippers, no jubilation. This time, it was more about how the Clippers didn't stand up enough to the physical play of the Memphis Grizzlies, didn't control many of the key areas of the game and didn't overcome the injuries that struck Los Angeles. As a result, the Clippers lost, 105-98, to Memphis in Game 2 of the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round playoff series Wednesday night. The Clippers return home for Games 3 (Saturday afternoon)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Disbelieving eyes followed the arc of the first three-point shot, and as it splashed into the net, they became wider. By the second consecutive make, jaws began to fall. By the third, which seemed to float and then fall through in slow motion, there was only silence. PHOTOS: Clippers vs. Grizzlies, Game 1 Said Clippers forward Kenyon Martin: "It got quiet. " By then, with 1 minute 47 seconds left in the fourth quarter of the Clippers' 99-98 win at FedEx Forum on Sunday, many in the sellout crowd of 18,119 could only look around in disbelief, trying to reaffirm with others that what they witnessed was real.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Many Memphians filed out of churches after Sunday services ended and headed to Beale Street, swelling the famous strip to its edges, guzzling down beer and wine - the street hosted the city's annual "Great Wine Race" - as dusk approached. Then scores funneled into the building they call "The Grindhouse" in honor of their team's "grit-and-grind" style of play to watch the Memphis Grizzlies play host to a playoff series for the first time in franchise history.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - I begin by challenging Randy Foye and telling him if he hits his threes, the Clippers win. If he does not, the Grizzlies will triumph in the playoffs. I have never sounded so ridiculous, and that's a lot of history to overcome. Here I am pressing someone who was 3 when his father died in a motorcycle accident. Five when his mother, selling drugs on the streets of Newark, N.J., just vanished. He was parentless before first grade, the Crips and Bloods waiting for him to grow up, his brother shot 11 times, surviving and only recently getting released from prison.

The conversations between 23-year-old DeAndre Jordan and Chauncey Billups have been along the lines of a professor's engaging his student. It has been the wise Billups offering wisdom from his 15 years of NBA experience to the willing Jordan, much of it focused on how the young Clippers center can provide the team with a unique presence that can be similar to Ben Wallace's during his heyday with the Detroit Pistons. Billups has told Jordan that he can be a game-changer on defense, a force in the middle, an intimidator and a key rebounder — some of the traits Billups saw firsthand while playing with Wallace in Detroit.

  Reporting from New York -- With Chris Paul sitting out with a mild left groin strain, the Clippers lost to the New York Knicks, 99-93, Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. The fifth-place Clippers are now a half-game behind the fourth-place Memphis Grizzlies for home-court advantage in their Western Conference playoff series that starts this weekend. All the Clippers had to do was win and they would have gotten home court. The Clippers have to hope the Grizzlies lose at home Thursday night to the Orlando Magic in order to open the playoffs at home.