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LOS ANGELES -- Chris Pauls teammates figure he might need more time to fully recover from his role in one of the ugliest playoff collapses in NBA history. With the Los Angeles Clippers season riding on Game 6, Paul knows he doesnt have that luxury. The Oklahoma City Thunder are back at Staples Center on Thursday night, and the Clippers must shelve their memories of the mistakes late in Game 5 that cost them a chance to close out the series at home. Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford went to work on Pauls mind on the bus ride to their flight home from Oklahoma City after the Clippers blew a 13-point lead in just over four minutes. The fiasco culminated in the All-Star point guards touch foul on Russell Westbrook to set up the winning free throws, sandwiched between two brutal turnovers by Paul -- all in the final 14 seconds. "He was visibly upset, and I told him that game is not on one guy," Griffin said Wednesday at the Clippers training complex. "Its not on him. We made plenty of mistakes down the stretch, plenty of mistakes throughout the game that could ultimately change the outcome. That idea that the game is on him, you understand what hes saying, but its not on him by any means. We still have two games left to play." The Clippers roller coaster of a post-season has careened into another valley after the Thunder stormed back from near-certain defeat with the help of Pauls mistakes and a much-debated out-of-bounds call with 11.3 seconds left. Clippers coach Doc Rivers hadnt changed his opinion one day after declaring the Clippers "were robbed" on that call, although he said he wont file any formal protest. The NBA issued a statement Wednesday night saying the call was made correctly in the absence of clear evidence to change it on replay review. Paul still appeared glum, giving short, clipped answers to questions about his turnovers and the Clippers ability to bounce back in Game 6. "I woke up this morning with a beautiful wife and two beautiful kids," Paul said. "At the end of the day, it is basketball, but theres a lot of guys livelihoods who depend on it, so Ive got to do my part." After three weeks of a circus atmosphere around the Clippers, Rivers still believes his young team has gathered enough resilience to force the series back to Oklahoma City for a deciding game. The Clippers played 43 outstanding minutes in Game 5 to reach the brink of what could have been a benchmark victory in a shift of the Western Conference hierarchy, only to let it slip away. Rivers thinks its a lesson the Clippers needed. "You dont win it easy," Rivers said. "Were trying to do something special here and be something special. And if youre trying to stand out in any job, its going to be hard. Youre going to face adversity, and youve just got to accept that thats part of the process. Yeah, this is hard. Its supposed to be. And thats the only thing I told our guys. Whats going on right now is exactly what should happen to win. You have to go through stuff to win, and youve just got to deal with it." The Thunder travelled to the West Coast on Wednesday with a bit of house money after the comeback by Westbrook and Kevin Durant, who combined for 17 of Oklahoma Citys 19 points in the final 9 1/2 minutes while Los Angeles fumbled, stumbled and finally crashed. Oklahoma City could advance to its third Western Conference final in four years with a victory in Game 6. But the Thunder also recall their own collapse in Game 4 at Staples Center, where they blew a 16-point lead with nine minutes left last weekend. Game 5 told coach Scott Brooks plenty about his teams tenacity. "I like the fact that we did that after the game before," Brooks said. "We had a lot of opportunities to win that game." Neither team has been significantly better in this series: Los Angeles has cumulatively outscored the Thunder 540-539 through five games, with Oklahoma Citys two-man offensive game countering the Clippers more balanced attack. But even after the exhaustion of a seven-game first-round series with Golden State and the continuing drama surrounding owner Donald Sterlings lifetime ban, the Clippers leaders think theyve still got more fight. "I think weve done a pretty good job this season and in the post-season of putting things in the past and just moving forward," said Griffin, who leads the Clippers with 24.2 points per game in the series. Cheap Nike Shoes Online Australia .C. -- The Steve Smith era in Carolina is over. Nike Shoes Wholesale Australia . But the young forward is more than willing to shed a little blood if thats what it takes to make the team this season. 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LOUIS - Two-thirds of the St.TORONTO -- In coach Randy Carlyles estimation, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had to make last-minute lineup decisions much more this season than usual, and the health of David Clarkson forced them into another one. With Clarkson deemed "questionable" by Carlyle to play Saturday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Leafs recalled tough guy Frazer McLaren from the AHLs Toronto Marlies. McLaren, who cleared waivers before the trade deadline, would be playing in his fifth post-Olympic break game if he takes Clarksons spot in the lineup. That Clarkson was still bothered by a pulled muscle in his leg which seemed to start during Fridays practice came as a surprise to Carlyle. Following the morning skate at Air Canada Centre, the veteran coach left open the possibility the Leafs could dress 11 forwards and seven defencemen or make a recall, as they did with McLaren. "Its always tough when youre missing quality players, and nobody wants to do that, but in the situation if the player is not deemed healthy by our medical staff and himself, then we have no other choice other than to make decisions," Carlyle said. Clarkson has four goals and six assists in 43 games for Toronto after starting the season with a 10-game suspension. Those 10 points are good for 14th on the team and tied with Dave Bolland, who hasnt played since November. Captain Dion Phaneuf will play against Philadelphia as Carlyle said Friday. Phaneuf took part in the morning skate, his first time on the ice this week witth teammates outside of game action.dddddddddddd "I feel good," Phaneuf said. "Obviously when youre not on the ice for a couple days, you want to get back, feel the puck a bit before you go right into a game." Phaneuf, who leads the Leafs in average ice time at 24:19 a game, has played in every game this season except the two he was suspended for boarding Kevan Miller of the Boston Bruins. That included games this week against the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers. Taking some time off between games is a matter of preservation for Phaneuf. "Sometimes when you have the opportunity to rest certain things, you want to take the time to do that," he said. "You weigh how much hockeys going to be played. "For me, it was good to be able to get those couple days to recharge and to rest a couple bumps and bruises." More than bumps and bruises have kept Bolland and tough guy Colton Orr out. Bolland hasnt played since having a tendon on the back of his ankle sliced Nov. 2 while Orr has been out the past six games. The Leafs open a five-game road trip Monday in Anaheim, and Carlyle hopes Bolland and Orr will be available by the end of it, March 17 at Detroit. "Orrsy skated again today, so Orrsys getting close," he said. "And with Bolland, its a situation as weve talked about before where were just waiting and biding our time and hopefully rebuilding that ankle, that area. "Hell give us the green light when he says hes ready." ' ' '