Tony Allen

SAN ANTONIO - He did it with lobs into the post, simple bounce passes and wild flings into the corners. Wherever Tony Parker put the ball Tuesday night at AT&T Center, the San Antonio Spurs usually turned it into a basket. Including the one they needed most. Tim Duncan took one of Parker's passes late in overtime and made a floating jumper that helped the Spurs hold on for a 93-89 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.

Time never seems to run out on Chris Paul. Seven, six, five … He takes a pass from Jamal Crawford about five feet from half court and surveys the floor in front of him, the Clippers needing a basket with the score tied in the final seconds of Monday's playoff game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Four, three … He dribbles around Tony Allen and pauses once, then again, before continuing toward the basket. Two, one … He whirls past Allen, creating separation with a left forearm to the midsection, before elevating for a one-handed leaning jumper that banks off the glass and through the net with 0.1 of a second left.

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.

As the steady flow of international musicians performing in the United States grew to a torrent at the end of the 1990s, it seemed that the world truly had grown smaller. Over the past decade though, the flood has slowed to a trickle, with rising air fares, difficulty in procuring visas and diminishing support from cash-strapped record labels locking many foreign artists out of the U.S. market. Yet even if it's become more challenging to see acts from around the world play live locally, their music remains accessible.

With the score tied at 91-91 and seven seconds left in the game, Chris Paul drove to the basket and shot a one-handed bank shot from four feet away over Tony Allen. The ball glided through the net with one-tenth of a second left to give the Clippers a 93-91 win in Game 2 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies. "He has a knack and a will and a desire to step up in those moments," Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro said. "That's what star players do. That's the best part of the game.

WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Celtics' pride? It's in their defense, where the influence of Kevin Garnett as its cornerstone trickled its way through the rest of the team. To that end, the Celtics maintain they will scheme no differently for their NBA Finals date with the Lakers. "We can't be anybody different," Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said at Tuesday's practice. "We are who we are." Who they are is a stingy bunch. The Celtics allowed a thrifty 90.3 points to opponents this season.

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.

1. Can the Lakers finally correct their road struggles?  Sorry for being redundant, but the Lakers have yet to solve a season-long problem. Their 7-14 road record featured two losses last week against Eastern Conference basement-dwellers in Detroit and Washington. Of course, part of the blame pointed to a lack of focus and letting up after holding double-digit leads. Memphis, which has won eight of its last 10 and holds a No. 4 playoff seed, should inspire the Lakers to play with more urgency.

SAN ANTONIO - He did it with lobs into the post, simple bounce passes and wild flings into the corners. Wherever Tony Parker put the ball Tuesday night at AT&T Center, the San Antonio Spurs usually turned it into a basket. Including the one they needed most. Tim Duncan took one of Parker's passes late in overtime and made a floating jumper that helped the Spurs hold on for a 93-89 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.

Time never seems to run out on Chris Paul. Seven, six, five … He takes a pass from Jamal Crawford about five feet from half court and surveys the floor in front of him, the Clippers needing a basket with the score tied in the final seconds of Monday's playoff game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Four, three … He dribbles around Tony Allen and pauses once, then again, before continuing toward the basket. Two, one … He whirls past Allen, creating separation with a left forearm to the midsection, before elevating for a one-handed leaning jumper that banks off the glass and through the net with 0.1 of a second left.

With the score tied at 91-91 and seven seconds left in the game, Chris Paul drove to the basket and shot a one-handed bank shot from four feet away over Tony Allen. The ball glided through the net with one-tenth of a second left to give the Clippers a 93-91 win in Game 2 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies. "He has a knack and a will and a desire to step up in those moments," Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro said. "That's what star players do. That's the best part of the game.

1. Can the Lakers finally correct their road struggles?  Sorry for being redundant, but the Lakers have yet to solve a season-long problem. Their 7-14 road record featured two losses last week against Eastern Conference basement-dwellers in Detroit and Washington. Of course, part of the blame pointed to a lack of focus and letting up after holding double-digit leads. Memphis, which has won eight of its last 10 and holds a No. 4 playoff seed, should inspire the Lakers to play with more urgency.

The Celtics are a never-say-die tribe of ballplayers, but their stubbornness comes in strange ways. Some nights, they're akin to the Lernaean Hydra, the mythological Greek creature that sprouted two heads for every one that got sliced off. But they're resilient all right. They lost Game 1 in the NBA Finals and won Game 2. They lost Game 3 and won Game 4. Now, they're tied with the Lakers at two games apiece as both head into Sunday's Game 5 here. "That's been their MO of late, at least," Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said Friday.

Reporting from Boston Tony Allen stood at his locker with a swollen upper lip that had eight fresh stitches. He's not sure how the cut got there. An errant elbow, the Celtics guard thinks, at some point during his team's 91-84 loss to the Lakers on Tuesday night in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, but he can't be certain. What he knows, though, is what happened during the fourth quarter, when Kobe Bryant's sneaker caught him in the throat, causing him to writhe in pain on the floor.

As the steady flow of international musicians performing in the United States grew to a torrent at the end of the 1990s, it seemed that the world truly had grown smaller. Over the past decade though, the flood has slowed to a trickle, with rising air fares, difficulty in procuring visas and diminishing support from cash-strapped record labels locking many foreign artists out of the U.S. market. Yet even if it's become more challenging to see acts from around the world play live locally, their music remains accessible.

Reporting from Boston Tony Allen stood at his locker with a swollen upper lip that had eight fresh stitches. He's not sure how the cut got there. An errant elbow, the Celtics guard thinks, at some point during his team's 91-84 loss to the Lakers on Tuesday night in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, but he can't be certain. What he knows, though, is what happened during the fourth quarter, when Kobe Bryant's sneaker caught him in the throat, causing him to writhe in pain on the floor.

Clippers guard Chris Paul was selected Monday to the NBA All-Defensive team, and Lakers guard Kobe Bryant failed to make the list for the first time since 2005. Paul led the NBA in steals per game (2.4) for the fifth time in six years and was joined on the first team by Miami's LeBron James, New York's Tyson Chandler, Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka, Memphis' Tony Allen and Chicago's Joakim Noah. The second team consisted of Marc Gasol and Mike Conley of Memphis, San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Indiana's Paul George and Boston's Avery Bradley.

WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Celtics' pride? It's in their defense, where the influence of Kevin Garnett as its cornerstone trickled its way through the rest of the team. To that end, the Celtics maintain they will scheme no differently for their NBA Finals date with the Lakers. "We can't be anybody different," Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said at Tuesday's practice. "We are who we are." Who they are is a stingy bunch. The Celtics allowed a thrifty 90.3 points to opponents this season.