aid. "That fourth quarter, he really took over for that 5 m

LOS ANGELES -- The short-handed San Antonio Spurs have been playing slightly better than .500 ball against teams with winning records, so they needed a huge lift from somebody Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders. They got one from Patty Mills, who scored 16 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Spurs charged out of the All-Star break with a 113-103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. San Antonio is a league-best 21-7 away from home, poised to extend its NBA record for consecutive winning seasons on the road to 17. "Down a couple of guys, not being able to practice yesterday, and to be able to come in here and put together a 48-minute performance like this was great for us," said Tim Duncan, who had 19 points and 13 rebounds during a foul-plagued 38 minutes. "It was a big win for us, especially on the road against a very good ballclub." The Spurs played without six-time All-Star Tony Parker, who will be sidelined "for the foreseeable future" because of numerous aches and pains (including a bruised shin, groin strain and lower back spasms), coach Gregg Popovich said. The 13-year veteran point guard, who played 11 minutes in Sundays All-Star game, is the Spurs leading scorer and their only player averaging at least 30 minutes. "Were just trying to get him healthy," Duncan said. "I mean, players being healthy is so underrated. When people play through things and they arent 100 per cent, the season becomes a grind. So we want to be 100 per cent so that down the stretch and in the playoffs, when we ask him to do all that we need him to do, hes ready to go and carry that load on his shoulders." Blake Griffin had 35 points and 12 rebounds, Jamal Crawford scored 25 and DeAndre Jordan grabbed 18 rebounds for the Clippers, who ended a run of five consecutive home games that began with a four-point loss to two-time defending champion Miami. "Weve got a lot of work to do to get where the Spurs are and accomplish what theyve accomplished," Griffin said. "They kind of have the model of the NBA and how you want to run things. Guys can be sitting out with injuries, and it doesnt matter. Other guys are going to come in and do exactly what theyre supposed to. Its impressive." Corey Joseph started for the 13th time this season and had seven points in Parkers place. Backup shooting guard Manu Ginobili returned to the lineup and scored nine points in 14 minutes after missing eight games since Jan. 28 because of tightness in his left hamstring. But centre Tiago Splitter was sidelined for the fourth straight game with a bruised right shin, and forward Kawhi Leonard missed his 12th in a row due to a broken bone in his right hand. All those injuries have presented a stiff challenge for the Southwest Division leaders, who are 8-7 since a five-game winning streak last month. They lead the Clippers by three games for the second-best record in the Western Conference and have two games left on their nine-game rodeo road trip. The Spurs, who came in leading the NBA in 3-point shooting at 39.1 per cent, took a 73-69 lead when Marco Belinelli drained one from in front of the San Antonio bench with 3:18 left in the third quarter. Duncan picked up his fourth foul less than 2 minutes later, but the Clippers never could regain the lead as Mills scored 11 consecutive Spurs points during a 2:26 span to help San Antonio build a 93-81 cushion with 8:46 to play. "He was great for us," Duncan said. "That fourth quarter, he really took over for that 5 minutes and gave us the lead that we needed. We were struggling trying to find points and keep the pressure on them, and he just completely took the ballgame over." Duncan got his fifth foul with 7:03 left, but Popovich kept him in there and the two-time MVP responded with a short hook shot and a 15-footer before Mills added a 3-pointer for a 102-92 lead with 4:35 remaining. "I think my fourth and fifth ones were not very smart. I didnt realize where I was, foul-wise, and I kind of got myself in trouble there," Duncan said. "But they werent able to take advantage of it, luckily, and we all played through it after Pop left me in there." NOTES: Griffin is averaging 35.3 points over his last six games and has scored at least 25 in each of the past nine. ... The Clippers have dropped their first game following the All-Star break in each of the last six years, including a 26-point loss to the Spurs last season. ... The Spurs are 29-1 when leading after three quarters. Their only loss came on Jan. 17, when Portland turned a one-point deficit into a 109-100 victory. ... Clippers F J.J. Redick missed his fifth straight game with a sore right hip. Cheap Ivan Rodriguez Jersey . -- Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno was admitted to the hospital Friday for observation due to minor complications from cancer treatments, his family said. Cheap Texas Rangers Jerseys . Chelsea took until the second half to trouble the leagues bottom team, but Schuerrle then ripped through the defence with ease at Craven Cottage to keep Jose Mourinhos side on track for the title. http://www.cheaptexasrangersjerseys.com/. Canada Day is here and with it comes Free Agent Frenzy as the NHLs 30 teams storm out of the gate for signing season. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . -- Houstons All-Star tandem of James Harden and Dwight Howard refused to let the Rockets give in to fatigue. Cheap Nolan Ryan Jersey . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. NEW YORK -- Lucas Duda and the New York Mets finally flashed a little power of their own. Duda hit a three-run homer and New York overcame two solo shots by Giancarlo Stanton, beating the Miami Marlins 4-3 on Friday night behind Jonathon Niese. Andrew Brown also went deep for the Mets, outhomered 13-0 by Washington at Citi Field in a four-game sweep that ended Thursday. "I think its certainly something Lucas can feel good about right now," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "Hes a big, strong guy. Everybody expects him to hit homers. I just expect him to drive runs in. And I think that swing tonight might really start him here in the last couple of weeks." Niese (7-7) struck out seven and walked none over 6 1-3 innings, improving to 4-1 in seven starts since returning from a shoulder injury last month. New York won for the third time in 12 September games and upped its mark to 6-10 this season against the Marlins, who have the NLs worst record at 54-92. Making his first major league start of the year, Brad Hand (0-1) gave up the go-ahead homer to Duda in the sixth and fell to 1-10 in 17 career outings. With the Mets trailing 2-1 in the sixth before a quiet crowd of 20,562, Eric Young Jr. hit a leadoff double on an 0-2 pitch. Two outs later, Hand worked carefully to Brown and issued a walk. On a 2-2 count, Duda pulled a hanging breaking ball to right field. Stanton raced back but the drive cleared the shortened fence. "Thats the matchup we wanted: lefty-lefty. Just need to make a good pitch and get out of that," Hand said. "I left a pitch up to him." It was Dudas 13th home run in the majors this season -- the previous 11 were solo shots. He was recalled from the minors Aug. 24 and has been filling in at first base for injured Ike Davis, hoping to show the Mets he still belongs in their plans. "It was just a hanging curveball and luckily I got enough of it and it got out. It was pretty windy out there," said Duda, who began the day batting .190 with four extra-base hits against lefties. Stanton hit his 22nd home run on an 0-2 pitch leading off the seventh. Thhat cut it to 4-3 and gave the slugger nine career multihomer games, three this season.dddddddddddd "Weve got a few weeks left so, keep it up," Stanton said. "It really doesnt matter what I do to finish the season, Ill never get back how terrible Ive been. But to turn it completely around is something I need to do, something I better do." LaTroy Hawkins got three straight outs for his ninth save, ending a quick game that took 2 hours, 30 minutes. He struck out Stanton with a 92 mph fastball and retired Justin Ruggiano on a long fly to the warning track in right-centre. An angry Niese was lifted after a one-out single by Ed Lucas. Scott Atchison retired the next two batters before Vic Black and Pedro Feliciano combined for a scoreless eighth. "I wanted to be in there. But that wasnt the reason I was mad," Niese said. "You set expectations for yourself and when you dont meet them, you get kind of angry. But, other than that, it was a good game and Im glad we got the win." Both cleanup batters homered leading off the second. Stanton hit a screaming rocket deep into the left-centre seats. Brown responded with a long drive into the second deck in left, New Yorks first home run since Justin Turner connected Sunday in Cleveland. The Mets allowed 14 unanswered homers during that stretch. Consecutive doubles by Lucas and Donovan Solano put the Marlins ahead in the fifth. Miami could have scored more, but Hand bunted into an inning-ending double play with runners at the corners. NOTES: Turner (right hamstring) probably will be sidelined until at least the middle of next week. ... New York rookie Travis dArnaud got dinged when Lucas backswing hit the catcher on top of his helmet in the second inning. Collins and trainer Ray Ramirez came out to check on dArnaud, who remained in the game. ... Mets RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka turned 33. Matsuzaka (0-3, 8.00 ERA) is slated to start against RHP Henderson Alvarez (3-4, 4.34) in the opener of Saturdays traditional doubleheader, scheduled to make up a June 7 rainout. Carlos Torres faces Miami RHP Jacob Turner in the nightcap. ' ' '