The NBA released its 2016-17 regular-season schedule on Thursday. As Los Angeles Clippers fans peruse their teams schedule, here are the five games they should circle on their calendar:Oct. 27: Clippers at?Portland Trail BlazersThe Clippers enter the season as a title contender but with plenty of questions that need answering including?Blake Griffins long-term future. If the Clippers remain healthy -- a big if --?Chris Paul,?DeAndre Jordan?and Griffin have enough to bring that elusive title to the Clippers.?Its hard to figure out why the Clippers have such bad luck, but injuries to Paul and Griffin doomed them earlier this year in the playoffs against the Trail Blazers, who dug out of a 2-0 hole by winning four straight. If their team is healthy, Clippers fans will get to see what could have been.Nov. 2:?Oklahoma City Thunder?vs. ClippersRussell Westbrook could be a man on a mission in Oklahoma City, and its no secret the Thunder want to bring Griffin, who played at Oklahoma, back home for next season. Westbrook re-signed for two more years after this and he needs a running mate.Dec. 1: Clippers at?Cleveland CavaliersAny time the champs come to town it is an event, and with the Clippers as one of the top threats to the Warriors, this could shape up to be a Finals preview.Dec. 7:?Golden State Warriors?vs. ClippersThe first meeting will be a titanic matchup of stars with Paul, Jordan and Griffin against?Kevin Durant,?Stephen Curry,?Draymond Green?and?Klay Thompson. The Clippers had a meeting with Durant in free agency but didnt close the deal. Durant chose the Warriors because they had better title chances. The Clippers will try to prove Durant wrong.Dec. 25: Clippers at?Los Angeles LakersWhat better than an inner city rivalry game on Christmas. A Kobe-less Lakers team full of young guns will face off with a fully loaded Clips team -- that is, if Paul and Griffin can stay healthy by the time Christmas rolls around. Air Jordan Uk Website . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. Discount Jordans Uk . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. http://www.discountairjordanuk.com/ . -- Gus Malzahn finally had his day in Fayetteville. Air Jordans Uk Sale . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20 regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks to play that day. Nike Air Jordan For Sale Uk . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. Dont be fooled by what you read in the press and hear in the media. In Pakistan it was decided long ago that he can do no wrong. He took those 12 wickets in Sydney, bowled that immortal afternoon spell of reverse swing in Karachi, stared the West Indies down on their home turf, led the cornered tigers in 1992. In short, he ushered Pakistan cricket into its golden era. And then there is the man. As any number of women would say, just look at him.You would think this makes Imran Khan an irresistible biography subject - and youd be right. There are very few autobiographies of Pakistani cricketers, and fewer biographies. Imran has become the focus now of a second worthy book (after Ivo Tenants Imran Khan, which appeared in 1994). The latest effort is by Christopher Sandford, a seasoned biographer who has previously tackled Godfrey Evans and Tom Graveney in addition to an august list from the world of music and film.It is not strictly a cricket book, because Imran is not just a cricketer. There is naturally a great deal of cricket in it, but it is so seamlessly interwoven with general experiences of the human condition that this book can be read with equal enjoyment by die-hard fans and casual followers alike. Indeed, Imran transcended cricket in that many people with little interest in the game found themselves absorbed by his public image and personality. This book will appeal to them too.Sandford succeeds in his essential biographical task, which is to conduct an enquiry into the making of the Imran Khan phenomenon. The research and sources are extensive, complemented by a solid bibliography. The prose, engaging and conversational throughout, is at times even riveting. Imran cooperated and is the first in a long list of acknowledgments.Delicious nuggets are buried here and there. Asif Iqbal pockets serious cash from Kerry Packer at 100-1 odds in a World XI vs West Indies WSC match. Imran floors Zaheer Abbas with a bouncer in a county match against Gloucestershire after being egged on by his Sussex team-mates, and immediately loses his aggression to become full of empathy. A novice political reporter asks Imran the politician in the middle of a hysterical campaign rally if he has ever seen anything like it before, and Imran quietly answers that yes, he has.Imrans utter focus and devotion to the given task at hand - be it cricket, politics, or social welfare - is well known and understood. But Sandford provides a nuanced picture of a shy yet restless soul brimming with self-belief, who is as concerned with substance and meaning as he is self-conscious about image and style. Imran is vividly characterised for his fierrcely independent Pathan streak, his bristling sensitivity towards any hint of colonial condescension, and his successful exorcism of Pakistan crickets post-colonial inferiority complex.dddddddddddd Yet paradoxically he is also totally at home in British culture. Sandford presents this as not merely a post-colonial but in fact a post-modern phenomenon: Imran does have complete comfort and ease in even the most rarefied levels of British society, but it is without any sense of superiority. The English, for their part, cannot have enough of him. An unstated subtext running throughout Sandfords narrative is that the English would love nothing more than to claim Imran as one of their own.There are a few disappointments. In January 1977, Imran took 6 for 63 and 6 for 102 in Sydney to record Pakistans first Test win in Australia. It marked him as the first Asian in the cadre of true fast bowlers, and the victory has been described by Javed Miandad - Imrans sometimes dysfunctional partner in the making of modern Pakistani cricket, as Sandford puts it - as a crucial watermark in the nations cricket psyche. Sandford makes short work of this match, disposing of it in barely a paragraph. This is in contrast to page upon page devoted to obscure county games and to arcane proceedings such as Imran leaving Worcestershire and signing on with Sussex. Sandford does identify a watershed in Pakistan cricket, but places it two years later, in Karachi against India. But Karachi 1978 was just a jingoistic celebration compared to Sydney 1977, which with all its symbolism was the true awakening.As the book moves into Imrans contemporary life, you keep expecting to read a dissection of his failings, but it never comes. Sandford accepts that Imran is marginalised in Pakistans national politics, but also argues that he is better off for it. Yes, he has an obstinate side, but that just makes him a formidable proposition. And true, he may not have succeeded as a broadcaster, but an obscure poll is cited, which ranks him as the games fourth most popular celebrity commentator. These judgments finally reveal Sandfords hand as an admiring scribe. Not that you can blame him, of course. Everybody admires Imran Khan, and those that dont are lying. Indeed, in politics as in cricket, Imran receives a great deal of unspoken credit for insisting on stepping out of his comfort zone. Sandfords treatment has done him justice. Imran Khan: The Cricketer, The Celebrity, The Politician Christopher Sandford Harpercollins, 384pp, ￡20 ' ' '