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NEW ORLEANS - Injuries and illness across New Orleans roster provided Daruis Miller a chance to play extended minutes with his old Kentucky teammate, Anthony Davis. They did a lot of winning together in college, and Wednesday nights game against an NBA playoff contender was no different. Davis had 16 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks while Miller capped a 16-point outing with a pair of clutch jumpers, and the under-manned Pelicans won their fourth straight, 98-96 over the Los Angeles Clippers. "I just knew I had an opportunity. I wanted to come out and play aggressively," said Miller, whose nearly 29 minutes of action were more than double his season average of 11.8. "I just so happened to have a good game. I think everybody did, though. Everybody stepped up and thats the reason why we won." Millers 3 made it 95-90, and his 16-foot jumper coming off a screen to the left of the foul line gave the Pelicans a 97-92 lead with 47 seconds left. Anthony Morrow, also playing extended minutes, scored 27 points, while reserve centre Alexis Ajinca added 14 points and 11 rebounds. "We beat a team thats got a chance to win a title," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. "I cant say enough about our group. It felt like a playoff game in there tonight." Jamal Crawford scored 31 for the Clippers, but narrowly missed a couple late 3-point attempts, including one as time expired that could have won it. "We didnt execute the play," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of the final seconds. "But the game didnt come down to the final play. I really thought (New Orleans) deserved to win. "If we had won, I would have taken it, but sometimes the basketball gods punish you for messing around and I though thats what we did." Former New Orleans star Chris Paul had 12 assists, but set a Clippers record for shooting futility by missing all 12 of his attempts from the field. His only points came on two foul shots. "If I go 0 for 15 or 0 for 20 and we win, I could care less," said Paul, whose team had won nine of its previous 10 games to get within striking distance of the second playoff seed in the Western Conference. "Its more than this game. Its about playing the right way going into the playoffs." Blake Griffin had 21 points, including a late off-balance floater as he was fouled with 10.5 seconds left. But he missed the following free throw that could have tied it. Davis rebounded the miss, but clanked a free throw on the other end, giving Los Angeles one more chance to tie or win. Davis scored 10 of his points in the second half, including a two-handed dunk in which he sprung toward the hoop from right side of the lane too quickly for DeAndre Jordan to respond. Davis also took on Griffin with confidence, rising over him to score on one end and alter his shots on the other. "AD wanted to prove that he and Blake are on the same level," Williams said. Jordan had 11 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks, but lamented, "We didnt play defence in the first half. We gave them a lot of confidence and when that happens its hard to turn guys off." Pelicans guard Eric Gordon missed his third straight game with left knee tendinitis, while point guards Brian Roberts (bruised left knee) and Austin Rivers (upper respiratory infection) were also out. That forced Williams to start shooting guard Tyreke Evans at point guard, with Miller, normally a small forward, also playing some minutes at guard. Evans finished with 10 points and nine assists. "Its like MASH unit," Williams said. "Were sitting there looking at the guys go through warm-ups this morning and it didnt look good. So we brought the guys together and just talked to them about, Just compete at a high level." New Orleans managed to keep pace with Los Angeles in part because Paul kept missing and didnt score until hitting two free throws with 2:52 left in the third quarter. "Chris started pressing a little bit," Rivers said. "He was trying to get going, which you want him to do. Just keep doing it in the realm of the offence." Notes: The Clippers went 13 of 30 from 3-point range. They won the previous 33 games in which theyd made at least nine 3s. ... The Pelicans victory was their first over the Clippers in four games this season. They wont meet again. ... New Orleans reached 10 blocks in a game for the 10th time this season, most in the NBA. Nike Air Max 270 Dames Nederland .com) - Jimmie Johnson won Sundays AAA Texas 500 while championship contenders Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski as well as their teams were involved in a post-race fight on pit road after the two clashed in the closing laps at Texas Motor Speedway. Nike Air Max 200 Nederland . Halak, 28, split his eighth NHL seasons between the St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals, compiling a 29-13-7 record in 52 games. http://www.airmaxkopennederland.com/ . - The Carolina Panthers believe Steve Smith lost "top-end" speed, a big reason the franchise parted ways with its all-time leading receiver. Nike Air Max 720 Goedkoop . That further limits the options of Australia coach Ewen McKenzie, who on Monday suspended six players who were involved in a night out in Dublin ahead of the Saturdays 32-15 win over the Irish. The Wallabies play Scotland on Saturday before facing Wales on Nov. Nike Air Max Thea Goedkoop . JOHNS, N.The raucous home crowd had finally departed. All that was left of the celebration was the ticker tape on the green grass and as the writers in the press box hurriedly typed away their prognosis on the 19th MLS Cup, one player celebrated with his close family and friends knowing he had just played his final game. This was not a difficult game to sell. Landon Donovan had been the preview of the showpiece event in the Major League Soccer calendar. Four months to the day after he announced his upcoming retirement, he found himself back home on the pitch in Carson, California for one last match. He had spent all week saying he did not want it to end and, temporarily, he got his wish when New England scored a deserved equalizer eleven minutes from time to extend the game into another 30 minutes. The Revolution had spent the week as an afterthought to many, almost as a team that had been asked to show up to be shown up by Donovan and his mates on the biggest of all stages in the North American game. Yet, sport can be so wonderfully poetic deciding itself just how the story would be played out. This was not to be a match where Donovan would score in a game dominated by the Galaxy. When they took the lead it appeared the script was all too predictable. A poor game littered by mistakes from both teams sprung into life six minutes into the second half when homegrown hero Gyasi Zardes powered LA into the lead. It was a lead they scarcely deserved, but New England were certainly no victims either. Right back Andrew Farrell had a torrid day and, after getting a tactics lesson from Donovan in the first half, he got a physical lesson from Zardes on the goal, bullied to the ground as the forward slotted home. Expectedly, the home crowd went crazy. For some it was likely the first time they had seen the Galaxy score a goal in person but finals throughout the world welcome bandwagon jumpers and this was surely no different. In many ways it made it even easier for thousands of MLS fans not at the game to root against the powerhouse. When Donovan lost sight of the ball in the sun closely before the half-time whistle the fans booed referee Mark Geiger for issuing a yellow card to the hero of the hour. The camera cut to Galaxy boss Bruce Arena who was caught screaming a four-word sentence that featured two swear words and an animal known as a bull. His words were echoed across North America only this time everyone else was shouting the words at the Galaxy, not in favour of them. The Galaxy can bring out many negative emotions from MLS fans. A team that somehow finds a way to fit in three enormous designated players as well as Juninho in midfield should beat New England at home and in the end thats what they did. An hour after conceding the equalizer they were together for the last time lifting their third MLS Cup in the last four years. A game that drifted along in third gear in terms of tempo and quality finally accelerated into top speed with one moment of brilliance when league MVP Robbie Keane was left onside and scored the winner in a trademark one-on-one situation. The Irishman had had a poor game, moaning at officials and teammates, but in a matter of five seconds he had secured the games MVP honour. As the ball rolled across the line and into the net, Keane cartwheeled his way to the corner where his goal was sealed by a kiss from Donovan. This time the American icon, the architect of so many magnificent moments throughout his own career, had to rely on someone else to deliver him a championship. There are games that you play when you are not at your best and we were not at out best today but in those moments you have to find a way to stay in it and wait for the play we needed and we made it, Donovan said afterwards.dddddddddddd The 32-year-old hadnt been the best player on the field but he again had made a case for being the smartest. Starting on the left he had terrorized Farrell with his inside runs and regularly punched large holes inside the channels of New Englands back four. In the second half, playing centrally just off Keane with Zardes on the left, he gave a clinic in versatility and his movement alone would regularly change LAs shape from a 4-4-1-1 to a 4-2-3-1 and then a 4-4-2. Fifty seconds before Zardes scored, he sprinted from a deep position and got behind the impressive Scott Caldwell to reach the six yard box unmarked. Not bad for a man who thinks his legs are going. Later in the half he found acres of space between the lines before playing Keane through in a one-on-one situation. Keane looked inches offside and the New England defence all put their hands up and gave up on the play. Donovan recognized this immediately after playing the pass and ran in behind Keane knowing if the Irishman didnt touch it he would be able to take it in all alone. No one else realize that, including Keane, who touched the ball and then took another verbal swipe at the official for doing his job. Donovan shouted at Keane instead. It was those kind of moments, of which there are so many with Donovan, that gave non-LA fans a deep battle between heart and mind. Winners are so often despised and this team is no different but with Donovan in it you cant help but respect them. Thats the difference his footballing intelligence made. There has never been another American player like him. Here he was on his final game still out-thinking everyone else. Donovans legacy will be about magical goals for club and country, his loyalty to MLS and his reward coming in the form of six championships but he was far more than just that. Commissioner Don Garber likes to use the term league of choice and he used it again on this day when thanking Donovan for his tenure in the league. He had used it in the past, and will do so again, particularly towards other American star players now playing here such as Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley. However, no matter what these, and others, go on to achieve there will never be another Donovan. The best American players now excel in a fast pace environment where they can show their great athleticism, but Donovan was a footballer who glided through a game and was equally brilliant without the ball than he was with it. As he hangs up his professional boots for the final time it is certainly worth contemplating whether the forever-evolving MLS has reached its peak. There are many ways to spin success and the league is certainly still growing in other areas and will continue to blossom towards a viable 24 team league very soon, but on this day its trophy was won by its very own New York Yankees and its Derek Jeter lifted it in his final match. In a salary cap era in sports there is something refreshing, and valuable, about a dynasty being created and all of the bitterness that follows them. Yet, without Donovan, this Galaxy team is simply a giant in the league without a true face to the casual fan. Garber told ESPN at half-time that he is confident the void will be filled. There will always be guys who leave and be replaced by young players and at some point well be talking about some other great player who is retiring after 14 years, Maybe. The game has never been so popular in the United States yet they remain some way off from producing their first genuine world-class star. Donovan is easily the closest they have come to that. He will be sorely missed. ' ' '