Forum » His three-point play put the Clippers up 52-38 at halftime.

MINNEAPOLIS - Hours before Phoenix completed its biggest comeback of the season, coach Jeff Hornacek said the Suns needed to approach each remaining game as their last if they wanted to make the playoffs. The Suns played more desperately than Minnesota on Sunday and inched closer to the Western Conferences final playoff spot. They also delivered a serious blow to the Timberwolves fading post-season hopes. Markieff Morris scored 25 points as the Suns overcame a 22-point deficit and a near triple-double by Kevin Love to beat the Wolves 127-120 and move within a half game of eighth-place Memphis. "Weve had a few of those, havent we?" Hornacek said. "Im always proud of the way they come back at the end of games, they never give up. We were playing horribly for a half, maybe partway into the third quarter and somehow they ended up pulling that game out." While Hornacek lamented his teams tendencies to start slow, the Suns were fortunate the Wolves — who fell six games behind Phoenix — have a habit of starting strong before fading. Now the Suns are hoping the Wolves psyche can recover in time to put up big points again when they play at Memphis on Monday. Phoenix, meanwhile, continues its road trip in Atlanta. "If we want to be contenders and be in the playoffs, we got to start showing it by winning these kind of games," P.J. Tucker said. "We came out and played in the second half." Phoenixs bench outscored Minnesotas 61-20, and the Suns shot a season-high 57 per cent from the floor to overcome Loves 36 points and 14 rebounds. The Wolves All-Star forward fell an assist short of a triple double and committed a crucial turnover in the final minute. With the game tied at 118, Love lost the ball in the paint and Eric Bledsoe made a fast-break layup. Gerald Green, Bledsoe and Tucker each hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds. "If we start out the game like that wed probably be up 20," Bledsoe said. The Suns tied a season high by allowing 41 points in the first quarter and trailed 103-93 heading in the final period, but they outscored the Wolves 34-17 in the fourth. Minnesota, meanwhile, blew its largest lead of the season. "That was our playoffs right there, and we lost. So this one hurts a lot more than the others," a visibly frustrated Love said. The Wolves scored a season-high 73 first-half points — they needed every one of them because the Suns shot 61 per cent and still found themselves trailing by 11 at halftime. Minnesota built its early lead thanks to a 14-0 first-quarter run fueled by a balanced offence. Every Wolves player who checked in scored. But Morris shot Phoenix back into the game with 15 points in the second quarter on 6 for 8 shooting. "We shouldve won that game, plain and simple," Love said. Phoenix has won five of its last six. Bledsoe had 21 points for the Suns, Tucker had 19 and Goran Dragic 18. The Suns won for only the fifth time when trailing after three quarters. "Im so tired of doing that," Tucker said. "We get 20-25 down and its like, lets play. Its unreal." Notes: Kevin Martin had 25 points for the Wolves. . The officials hit Phoenix with four technical fouls, including one on assistant coach Mike Longabardi. . Crews scrambled to prepare the court after Target Center hosted the National Collegiate Hockey Conference championship game Saturday night. They didnt have enough time to remove the ice, so they constructed the court above it for Sundays game. . Wolves G J.J. Barea scored two points in his first game since spraining his left foot in Thursdays loss to Houston. Barea was questionable heading into the game but told coach Rick Adelman he felt better after warming up Sunday. . The Wolves have scored 30 points in the first quarter five straight games. Cheap Vapormax Womens China .5 million, two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, a deal that covers his final two arbitration seasons. Wholesale Vapormax 2 Flyknit . -- A.J. Burnett was happy to escape from New York. http://www.clearancevapormax.com/cheap-v...-clearance.html. -- The Oakland Raiders expect to have starting right tackle Tony Pashos back for Sundays game against the Houston Texans. Cheap Vapormax 2020 China . Sizemore, who turned 29 on Jan. 4, has been limited to six games over the past two seasons because of an injured left knee that twice required surgery. He originally got hurt on Feb. 25, 2012, during a fielding drill in Oaklands first full-squad spring training workout and had surgery that March 21 to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Cheap Vapormax 2 China .com) - Sporting Kansas City announced Thursday that club has signed former on-loan midfielder Jimmy Medranda to a permanent contract from Colombian side Deportivo Pereira.LOS ANGELES -- Blake Griffin entered the back half of his 20s with a birthday serenade from the crowd and another dynamic demonstration of why hes only getting better with age. The Los Angeles Clippers winning streak also gets a whole lot more impressive with every passing week. Griffin had 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists on his 25th birthday, and the Clippers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 102-80 Sunday night for their 11th consecutive victory. The Clippers high-flying forward threw himself a nice little party: Griffin has scored at least 20 points in 26 consecutive games, a mark exceeded only by Kevin Durant this season. "This stretch of games that weve played and weve been successful has been a huge team effort," Griffin said. "Guys have stepped up and really done their part. With our team, I dont think its one guy thats making us go. I genuinely believe its been a total team effort." Yet Griffin is a clear driving force with his rapidly evolving all-around game. So is Chris Paul: The point guard had 15 assists and scored 11 of his 16 points in the final 6:04 for the Clippers, who havent lost since Feb. 21. The fans sang "Happy Birthday" to Griffin during a dead ball in the second quarter, and he gave a sheepish grin and a wave while waiting to inbound the ball. He had already received a pregame song from rookie Reggie Bullock, who scored a career-high 14 points on his own 23rd birthday. "Its probably like the 10th time hes had to do it this year, and he seems like hes getting worse," Griffin said dryly. "No enthusiasm. Its really bad. ... Hes got a great personality. He just cant sing at all." Luol Deng scored 23 points and Dion Waiters had 15 for the Cavaliers, who lost Kyrie Irving in the first quarter to a left biceps injury. Cleveland had won on its first two stops of a three-game West Coast road trip, but never led while Los Angeles matched the longest streak in the NBA this season, equaling 11-game runs in November by Portland and San Antonio. "Theyre a great team," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "Theyve got a chance to win it all. I mean, you look how deep their roster is. They have playoff experience, theyve got NBA All-Stars coming off the bench, and Doc is a great coach." Irving, Clevelands leader in scoring and assists, went to the Cavs locker room late in thee first quarter and didnt return.ddddddddddddThe All-Star Game MVP missed all five of his shots against the Clippers and was injured shortly before he left the game. Jarrett Jack scored seven straight points during a 12-0 Cleveland run early in the fourth quarter, trimming the Clippers former 21-point lead to seven. But Paul shook off a rough shooting night with three jumpers in quick succession, and the Clippers closed out their sixth straight home victory. "We just cant start games like that," Jack said. "We had a lull period for almost a quarter and a half, and we just didnt go out and compete. Then the game kind of started to turn in our favour, but fighting an uphill battle against a team like that is a very tough task." DeAndre Jordan added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who matched the 1974-75 Buffalo Braves for the second-longest winning streak in franchise history. Los Angeles won 17 straight games during its unbeaten run through December 2012. Jamal Crawford missed his fourth straight game with a strained left calf, and fill-in starter Darren Collison was ruled out 15 minutes before tipoff with a stomach virus. Los Angeles already is without J.J. Redick, who hasnt played since early February. "They dont use an excuse," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "We have three of our top four guards out today, and no one talked about it (in the locker room). They still feel like every night, we have a chance to win the game." Los Angeles scored the games first 11 points and jumped out to a 17-3 lead just 6 minutes in when Cleveland missed nine of its first 10 shots. Griffin somehow scored while Spencer Hawes flagrantly fouled him in the final minute of the first half, muscling the ball home in a remarkable display of strength. His three-point play put the Clippers up 52-38 at halftime. NOTES: Hawes got his second technical foul and an ejection with 1:19 to play while standing by Clevelands bench. Hawes, who scored 14 points, sarcastically waved goodbye to referee Scott Wall as he left. "Im given up enough money tonight, so I wont say anything more beyond that," Hawes said afterward. ... Metta World Peace watched the game from a baseline seat next to the Cavaliers bench. The erstwhile Ron Artest won a ring in this building in 2010 with the Lakers, who let him go last summer. ' ' '