LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Blake Griffin wont be playing in Portland, regardless of whether his 16th technical of the season is rescinded. Griffin will stay home to rest, along with J.J. Redick, while the rest of the Los Angeles Clippers close out the regular season against the Trail Blazers. They recorded their franchise-record 57th victory with a 117-105 win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night, when Griffin scored 24 points. "Im very happy that were doing this stuff, but its not what we want," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. Chris Paul had 21 points and 10 assists, and Redick added 18 points in the Clippers finale at home, where they went 34-7 for another franchise mark. DeAndre Jordan had 13 points and 16 rebounds. "Its all good and well," Paul said about the franchise records, "but its all about the post-season." The win kept the Clippers in the hunt for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. They would need to win at Portland and Oklahoma City would need to lose to Detroit on Wednesday night for the Clippers to claim the second spot. Otherwise, they will remain the third seed. Griffins 16th tech triggered a league-mandated one-game suspension. But he said he thinks the league might rescind it. "I honestly do," he said. "It was one of those ones that was kind of a continuation. If I make a play on the ball and I hit the ball first, and he gives me a tech for that, Im not sure if thats going to stand up." Griffin was assessed the tech with 3:23 left in the second quarter. He swung his right arm around to try to get the ball from Timofey Mozgov and hit him in the head. Griffin pleaded his case with the referees to no avail. Teammate Jared Dudley saw the play and was confident the call would be rescinded. "He did hit ball, but he did follow through and hit his face," Dudley said. "If it wasnt an offensive foul, the ref said that he wouldnt have called the technical; it would have been more of a flagrant." Kenneth Faried led the Nuggets with 21 points and Aaron Brooks added 19. Mozgov had 18 points and 11 rebounds as Denvers three-game winning streak ended. "Every time, its tough to play against the big guys like them," Mozgov said about Griffin and Jordan. "They work under the basket so hard." The Clippers scored the games first 13 points and never looked back. Paul hit two 3-pointers and Matt Barnes added another before the Nuggets called timeout to regroup. Redick scored 10 unanswered points by himself, including two 3-pointers that extended the Clippers lead to 18 points. Griffin had three one-handed highlight dunks in the first. "We were rattled at the beginning of the game," Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said. "We couldnt settle down and they jumped out to that big lead, and it was just too much for us." Mozgov helped the Nuggets close within single-digits after trailing by 23 with a three-point play that left them down 88-80 to end the third. Denver twice got within five in the fourth, when all of the Clippers starters except Barnes and Jordan rested. But Los Angeles pulled away down the stretch for the easy win. "I wanted them to figure it out," Rivers said of the reserves. "Thats a confidence booster for them to close it out." NOTES: Redick wont play the regular-season finale Wednesday at Portland to avoid a back-to-back situation. ... Clippers F Danny Granger could practice Thursday or Friday. He missed his eighth straight game because of a strained left hamstring. ... Denver finished 14-27 on the road and 7-19 against the West away from home. ... The Nuggets host playoff-bound Golden State on Wednesday in their final game of the season. Mark Pysyk Panthers Jersey .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Colton Sceviour Jersey . -- Derek Jeter says the New York Yankees have no choice but to move forward now that Alex Rodriguez has accepted his suspension for the 2014 season. http://www.hockeypanthersofficialonline.com/colton-sceviour-hockey-jersey/ . Locke overcame a shaky start to pitch seven innings and Josh Harrison had three hits to extend his hot streak as the Pirates beat the Miami Marlins 7-3 on Wednesday night. Henrik Borgstrom Panthers Jersey . Will Venable and Ryan Ludwick drove in a run each for the Padres, who have taken six of their last seven contests and clinched their third straight series win after winning the first two in this set. Clayton Richard (4-9) allowed five hits and a pair of runs over seven innings, while fanning five. MacKenzie Weegar Jersey . Austin does not believe the game-time temperature is going to be an advantage for either side heading into the Grey Cup. "We dont think about (the cold)," said Austin. "Im not even sure how you would determine an advantage.The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to go into the NHLs holiday break on a winning note when they take on the New York Rangers in an Original Six matchup at Madison Square Garden. You can listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1050 or on tsn.ca/toronto at 7pm et. The Maple Leafs lost for the third time in four games their last time out, dropping Saturdays shootout decision against the visiting Detroit Red Wings. The 5-4 loss was also the sixth setback in eight games for Toronto, which went 1-1-1 during its recent three-game homestand. Toronto overcame a 3-1 deficit after 20 minutes to grab a 4-3 lead in the third period before Detroits Tomas Tatar potted the equalizer with 6:16 remaining in regulation. "Obviously, we didnt have a very good first period," said Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle. "We score the first goal and then we basically stood around for the rest of the period and watched them do their thing." Daniel Alfredsson and Pavel Datsyuk both scored during the shootout to lift the Red Wings to victory in a preview of the 2014 Winter Classic. Former Maple Leaf Jonas Gustavsson did not allow a goal in the shootout after making 19 saves through overtime for Detroit. Joffrey Lupul recorded a goal and an assist in the loss, while Dion Phaneuf, Cody Franson and David Clarkson also scored for the Maple Leafs. Toronto goaltender Jonathan Bernier made 25 saves in relief of James&nbssp;Reimer, who was pulled after the first period.ddddddddddddBernier is expected to start in goal against the Rangers tonight. Also, Paul Ranger will draw back in on defence replacing John-Michael Liles, while Colton Orr returns to the lineup in favour of Troy Bodie. The Maple Leafs have lost nine of their last 10 road games heading into this evenings game. Overall, Toronto is just 6-8-3 as the visiting club this season. The Rangers have a 2-4-2 record on a nine-game homestand, but the Blueshirts posted one of those two wins in Sundays 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Carl Hagelin broke a tie in the second period and New York cruised to the victory from there. "We rolled four lines, each time playing very smart and simple," said New York head coach Alain Vigneault. "They were doing great things with the puck." Cam Talbot, who starts in goal for the Rangers tonight, made 24 saves for the Rangers in his first start since Dec. 2. Talbot is now 7-2-0 with a 1.67 goals against average on the season. The Rangers, who are just 7-10-2 on home ice this season, will play their next five games on the road after completing the homestand tonight. The Rangers have won two straight home meetings against Toronto, but the clubs have split the last six encounters at MSG. New York has taken four of five overall from the Leafs, who are facing the Rangers for the first time this season. ' ' '