INDIANAPOLIS - Doc Rivers believes the Los Angeles Clippers have all the components to make a title run.They can score from inside or outside and they can rebound. The missing piece is consistent defence — and that nearly cost them on Wednesday night.The Clippers blew a 15-point, first-half lead and nearly gave away a 20-point lead in the final 14 minutes before hanging on for their ninth straight win — 103-96 over the struggling Indiana Pacers.Defend. Thats how we fix it, Coach Rivers said when asked to explain what happened. Thats not that hard. They can do it and theyve done it. So, theyve shown they can do it, and they will do it.Los Angeles (16-5) won in typical fashion.Jamal Crawford scored 18 points, including a critical 20-foot, off-balance jumper with 1:50 to go that made it a two-possession game.Blake Griffin had 17 points, including a key free throw during the final stretch, and added 10 rebounds and five assists. DeAndre Jordan finished with 12 points and a season high 19 rebounds, and Chris Paul had eight points and 15 assists — one short of the season high he established Saturday.But the short-handed Pacers (7-15) simply refused to let the Clippers pull away. C.J. Miles scored a season high 30 points, Lavoy Allen had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Luis Scola had 12 points and 14 rebounds.It wasnt quite enough to pull of the comeback.While Rivers challenged his backups to protect leads better, Pacers coach Frank Vogel was contemplating how to get more out of his starters and possible lineup changes.Somethings got to change for us to get off to better starts, Vogel said. That group is struggling. Its not clicking.The discrepancy was so clear-cut Wednesday that Vogel didnt even bother putting his starters in for the stretch run.After the backups helped Indiana rally from a 15-point first-quarter deficit to take a 45-44 lead, the starters got outscored 10-4 in the final minutes of the first half.Roy Hibberts 19-foot jumper to start the second half cut the deficit to 54-51, but the Clippers answered with a 16-5 run to take a 14-point lead. Jordan Farmars 3-pointer with 1:52 left in the third quarter made it 82-62.But the Pacers second unit started the fourth quarter on a 12-4 spurt, closed to within five, fell behind 95-87 with 3:42 to play and then made one more rally. Scolas layup with 3:09 got the Pacers within three, and Allens 20-foot jumper with 2:00 to go made it 98-96.Crawford then answered with the jumper, and the Pacers never scored again.The key was that we didnt get rattled, Paul said. We dont want to lose leads of 15 or 20 points, but in an 82-game season, its going to happen. The important thing is we still got the win.TIP-INSClippers: Los Angeles came in leading the NBA in 3-point shooting at 38.5 per cent. However, they were just 4 of 15 from beyond the arc at halftime and finished 7 of 24 (29.2 per cent) for the game.Pacers: Whats wrong with the Pacers? Donald Sloan, once the starting point guard, didnt play against the Clippers. Hibbert and power forward David West, who recently returned from injuries, were ineffective. And the Pacers still dont have starting guard George Hill back from a knee injury.UP NEXTIndiana visits Toronto on Friday.Los Angeles visits Washington on Friday.SLOW STARTS: Indiana has been one of the NBAs worst first-quarter teams this season. On Wednesday, the Pacers had two slow starts — one in each half. Indiana was outscored 19-7 in the first 5:12 of the game and 16-7 over the first 5:03 of the third quarter.STYLE POINTS: The key to the Clippers is scoring 100 points. They are now 15-1 when scoring at least 100, and just 1-4 when they do not. Anthony Brown Jersey . The freestyle skier from Calgary finished sixth in the qualification round with a total of 82.00 points. Groenewoud won a silver medal at the X Games last month, just over five weeks after undergoing double knee surgery. Larry Allen Jersey . - After spending the morning in the hospital, Logan Couture gave the San Jose Sharks the spark they needed. http://www.officialdallascowboysfootball.com/. First, Ivan Nova decided to have season-ending Tommy John elbow surgery. Then Michael Pineda was suspended for 10 games for using pine tar. Emmitt Smith Jersey . Louis Cardinals placed outfielder Allen Craig on the 15-day disabled list with a right knee contusion on Sunday. Brett Maher Jersey . In a matchup of teams battling head-to-head for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccers Western Conference, the Whitecaps run to the post-season took a hard hit when FC Dallas blew open a tie game with two goals in the final minutes for a 3-1 victory Saturday night.1. Lou Williams & Lucas Nogueira (Raptors): I like this deal by general manager Masai Ujiri. I have always been a fan of Williams, who fell out of favor in Atlanta. In the final year of his contract, the Raptors will be getting a player who can score in bunches off the bench and give his team a lift on many nights. He plays with energy and can run the point for a possession or two but is definitely more of a scoring two guard. Nogueira is a guy that is under contract overseas for another year, which is a good thing because there is no rush to bring him over and start his NBA Contractual Clock. The Raptors want to be getting him when hes more mature and prepared to give them a greater return on their yearly investment. I like the move, though. Hes a young man who can make things happen in the lane with his rebounding and shot blocking potential. His offence is a bit raw yet but in time he should be a sound pickup. John Salmons was a good pro, but as we could all see in the playoffs, hes clearly on the downside of his career. For Salmons, this is a nice trade particularly with the fact that Williams is off the books after this upcoming season. Helps you, yet doesnt damage your salary cap long term. 2. Jason Kidd (Bucks): How about this for a Machiavellian Move on the part of J-Kidd?! You literally cant make this nonsense up. He tries to back-door GM Billy King in Brooklyn and gets shown the door for two second-round picks. I guess you beat the Raptors in Round 1 and win one playoff game against the Heat and youre a genius with the NBAs Highest Payroll. No one else in the league would have given him the shot he got last year to coach and this is the appreciation. I feel bad for coach Larry Drew, he gets one year and then the door from his new owners. This is a tough business and theres very little honour and respect left anymore in the coaching profession, thats for sure in this case. 3. Derrick Rose (Bulls): Rose is catching a lot of flak for saying that its not his job to recruit Carmelo Anthony. He is correct; its ownership, management and the coaches jobs to do the work. When you evaluate what he said after that about Melos skills, its pretty evident to me that hes impressed with Melos game and how it would help the Bulls. In defence of him, Im sure if management asked him to publicly make comments about Melo or behind the scenes recruit him, hed assist them. Hes a team guy. On the other hand, maybe he just deep down in his heart knows that Melo wouldnt be a great fit in their system/team identity. Well all know in the next few days if this has any impact on Melos decision with Chicago. Usually guys with the ego the size of Melo want to be recruited by everyone involved. 4. Nets coach: Youll hear the names of Lionel Hollins, George Karl & Mark Jackson among many for this job, as their agents cash in favours with media members to float their clients names to increase their profile and possibilities. In a market like New York, with such a high profile and a small window of opporrtunity with this older team thats got the huge payroll, it actually makes lots of sense to consider each of these guys for the job.dddddddddddd The Nets will need both a strong and capable personality/coach to handle this job. GM Billy King knows that and the fact that he was supported by ownership in the coup attempt doesnt mean hes not under tremendous pressure to win big right now. Kings has got to get the right guy and he better win lots of games next year or they might actually need a new GM next spring. I like Lionel Hollins for this job. 5. July 1: Here we go! Always a fun few days when free agency begins. The Big 3 and Melo set the tone and other movement will follow from a decent free agent class, when you look at the Top 10. Theres quite a drop off once you get past the Top 15 names. For Raptors fans, its very important to balance the desire to build on the 48 win season last year with the long term understanding that the Raptors as currently constructed (Even if Kyle Lowry, Patrick Patterson & Greivis Vasquez return) are still a ways away from being a legit contender to go to the NBA Finals out of the East. Particularly if the Big 3 stay in Miami, Chicago gets healthy and adds a guy like Melo and the Pacers improve and take a good look around. Other teams in the East added some pieces in the early part of the Draft that will make each win a little harder to get within the Conference. Remember back to Bryan Colangelos first season as GM with a 47 win season? You can win too early. As crazy as that sounds, its true. Truly be honest with your team and organization and always try to evaluate yourself vs. the top four and top eight in the East as well as the top four and top eight in the West this past season. How did you stand up vs. those teams and vs. the non-playoff teams? Obviously, a nice season in the NBA is when you beat who youre capable of beating and the Raps did that with some other fun wins sprinkled in along the way to make it a neat experience. Lots and lots of work still needs to be done for this team/organization to be a contender. Slow and steady wins the Race. Im quite confident in the patience and long-term view of Ujiri, that he wont get sucked in to believing that theyre close and try to build on a foundation that isnt there yet. Manage the cap properly, improve internally and be patient. The right defining move will present itself to you in the near future, youve got to be properly positioned when it shows up at your doorstep to be able to consummate the transaction. Yes, I love making the playoffs, but we all want more. So build with the idea of long term/organization vs. the 2014-15 team. You want to be in the playoffs on a yearly basis as well as - and this is what really matters - being a team with a legitimate chance to play in the Eastern Conference Finals & possibly get to the NBA Finals. Those are really hard steps to take. Obviously, if the Big Three break up, Melo goes to the Western Conference instead of the Bulls, etc. Then you reconsider that because you do have greater opportunity. But for now, big picture. It will be a fun few days to watch and follow. 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