After a stellar 14-2 start, the Los Angeles Clippers have come back down to earth.The Clippers have won just four of their past nine games, facing injuries and the usual bumps of an 82-game season as they prepare to visit the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.The Clippers are not in dire straits by any means. They are as dangerous as ever. Even with Blake Griffin out Saturday, Chris Paul poured in 20 assists and had no turnovers in a win over the New Orleans Pelicans.Getting Griffin back in the lineup Monday, Los Angeles held on for a 121-120 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. It was a game where the Clippers showed off the potential and the devastating offense that ran through the league early in the season.But it also showed some of their flaws too -- the defensive lapses and the stagnation of the offense that sometimes slows the team down.The Clippers are back on the winning track, but things are not quite right still.It was a win. I didnt think we played great, but Ill take the win, Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers told the Orange County Register following Mondays win.The Clippers still rank in the top five in both offensive and defensive rating. That typically means the team is among the very best in the league.Since Thanksgiving, though, the Clippers have been much more middle of the road -- ninth in offensive rating and 16th in defensive rating. The certainly explains some of the slippage and the missteps the team has made in the last few weeks.L.A. is hoping the three-game road trip to the East Coast -- all against losing teams in the Southeast Division -- can help the team keep moving back in the right direction and back toward contention.The Clippers opponent Wednesday is doing some soul-searching of its own.The Magic entered last week with the third best defense in the league by defensive rating. This came as they won three of the first four games in a five-game road trip.The defense slipped last week, though. Orlando played four games in five nights to complete an eight-games-in-12-days stretch and struggled defensively. The Magic fell to 12th in the league in a matter of a week, giving up 100 points in all four games. It was the first time they had allowed 100 points in consecutive games since mid-November.Thats the biggest thing in the last four games, Orlando coach Frank Vogel said. We let our guard down for whatever reason on the defensive end. We have to return to form. Its got to happen a lot mentally rather than having three hard days of practice. Theres still not a lot of practice time. We have to get that end of the floor performing at a higher level.The Magic did not quite get their defense under control and back to an elite level in a 131-120 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.But, with just a three-point lead entering the fourth quarter, the Magic allowed just 24 points in the final 12 minutes to get some breathing room and protect their lead.For them, it will take more than a quarter of strong defense to hold off the star-powered Clippers as the Magic still seek some consistency and return to form. Nike Air Force 1 Cheap Outlet . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford. Cheap Air Force 1 Shoes Wholesale .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. http://www.airforceforsalecheap.com/ . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Nike Air Force Ones Sale .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Cheap Air Force 1 . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. OAKLAND, Calif. -- Nobody will argue the Golden State Warriors have a lineup of reliable, superstar scorers. They nearly had a trio of 30-point performers.Defenders, thats still to be determined.Were trying to win a championship, you dont do that simply by outscoring people, coach Steve Kerr said.Klay Thompson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:31 left and another with 3:13 remaining to score a season-high 30 points, Stephen Curry also had 30 points with five 3s, and the balanced Warriors held off the Phoenix Suns 133-120 on Sunday night.Kevin Durant added 29 points, nine rebounds and five assists as he Warriors avoided a second home loss at this early stage that would have matched their total of two defeats at Oracle Arena in each of the past two regular seasons.Thompson shot 11 for 18 also with five 3s and scored 14 of his points in the fourth, while Draymond Green finished with 14 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds as Golden State overcame 16 turnovers for 18 Suns points.Eric Bledsoe and T.J. Warren scored 20 points apiece to lead six players in double figures for the Suns, who hardly looked sluggish in the second night of a back-to-back.You cant let them shoot 50 percent from the field, Thompson said. If we want to get where we want to go, we have to pick it up on that side of the ball.Thompsons 3-pointer with 6:58 to go tied the score at 106 but Leandro Barbosa answered with a 3 against his former team and Brandon Knights free throws with 6:15 remaining made it 111-96 Suns.Devin Booker added 19 points for Phoenix, while P.J. Tucker kept the Suns in it. His putback with 9:53 left tied it at 101, he made a pair of free throws at 9:18 and a reverse layin with 8:40 to play to make it 104-103. Tucker had eight points and eight rebounds.The Warriors own their longest winning streak against the Suns at nine games, including 10 in a row at Oracle Arena.Still, Green insists Golden State must do more on both ends.Fans arent going to bring energy to a game like this because theyre expecting us to comme in and beat them by 30, he said.dddddddddddd.Warren had four steals for Phoenix, and the Suns took 90 shots a day after putting up an NBA-high 107 in a home loss to Brooklyn.BARBOSA IS BACKBarbosa returned to Oracle for the first time since joining the Suns following two seasons with Golden State, but blamed himself afterward for several mistakes down the stretch.I gave the spark for them, the crowd got into the game and it was tough to shut it down, he said.Golden State showed Barbosa highlights on the big screen during a first-quarter timeout and he watched intently with his hands on his hips near one baseline. He smiled and waved in all directions as fans jumped to their feet for a standing ovation.We built up something really special with this team, Barbosa said. Good memories. We built something unique. You can never forget that.Steve Nash also attended the game with his family -- a reunion of sorts for the guard with his old Suns team as he now works as a player development consultant for Golden State.DISHING AND DASHINGThe Warriors shot 50 percent or better from the field with at least 30 assists in a fourth straight game, the first time they have done so since 1994.TIP-INSSuns: C Tyson Chandler rejoined the team but missed his fourth straight game following the death of his mother Tuesday from cancer. ... The Suns played their third back-to-back already.Warriors: Currys fifth basket of the game gave him 4,000 career field goals, the ninth player in franchise history to reach the mark. He made 7 of 7 free throws and the Warriors went 27 for 31 from the line. ... Durant has at least one block in a career-best 11 straight games.UP NEXTSuns: At Denver on Wednesday for the second contest of six straight road games -- the Suns longest road trip of the season along with another six-gamer from March 19-28.Warriors: Begin a four-game road trip Wednesday at Toronto. ' ' '