Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - It wasnt pretty, but Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers grinded out a 93-90 win over the short- handed Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. Paul missed a pair of free throws that could have made it a three-point game with 13.8 seconds remaining, but he went to the ground to secure the rebound on Sebastian Telfairs miss at the other end and Griffin sank two from the stripe. It was 91-88 with 5.8 seconds left when LA fouled Nick Collison intentionally to prevent the Thunder from getting off a look from 3-point range. He hit two as well, then J.J. Redick restored the three-point margin with his pair with 2.8 seconds to play. Without any timeouts, Thunder center Steven Adams inbounded to Serge Ibaka near mid-court. Ibaka took two dribbles and lined up a deep triple, which missed short as the final buzzer sounded. Opening nights are tough. We won but we didnt play well, said Clippers head coach Doc Rivers. I didnt like our tempo. We have to play at a better pace. Griffin showed off an improved jumper on his way to 23 points and Paul tallied 22 with seven assists to edge out a Thunder unit that hardly resembled the team that took the Spurs to six games in the Western Conference finals after knocking the Clippers out of the playoffs a season ago. Reigning league MVP Kevin Durant had foot surgery and will miss the early portion of the season. The Thunder also traveled to Los Angles without guards Reggie Jackson, Jeremy Lamb and Anthony Morrow and rookie big man Mitch McGary. Russell Westbrook joined the walking wounded after leaving in the second quarter with a small fracture in his right hand. Its unfortunate, the way it is right now but its the way it is, Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. We have to figure out how to continue to improve. Instead of Durant and Westbrook, who averaged a combined 53.8 points per game last season, it was third-year forward Perry Jones totaling a career-high 32 points to keep things competitive. Ibaka added 17 points and Telfair scored 11 with seven helpers off the bench. The Thunder started 4-for-4 from the field, with four different players hitting shots to stake the visitors an early 8-0 lead. Griffin settled down the Clippers with a pair of free throws, but Ibaka scored eight straight Thunder points to keep them in front. Paul split a pair at the line later in the period to make it 22-20. Again the Thunder responded, this time with four straight Jones free throws. OKC led 28-22 after one. Jamal Crawford heated up early the second, scoring nine of LAs first 14 points in the period. His triple at 7:46 gave the Clippers their first lead. Jones scored five straight late in the period to put the Thunder back in front, but LA scored eight of the final 10 points in the half to take a 46-41 lead into halftime. Oklahoma City locked down defensively in the second half to stay in the game and give itself a chance late. Game Notes This was the first regular season game for new Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who purchased the team for a record $2 billion this offseason ... Crawford scored 16 points off the bench ... OKC won the rebounding margin, 47-33, but more than doubled LAs turnovers, 27-12. Los Angeles Dodgers Pro Shop . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Keeping The Captain? Brian Giontas agent Steve Bartlett told La Presse on Tuesday that the Montreal Canadiens want to keep their captain - an unrestricted free agent on July 1 - in the fold, while sources tell the paper that the two sides will start talks this week. Maury Wills Jersey . 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Carps pinch-hit floater dropped just beyond the glove of Baltimore third baseman Manny Machado in the eighth inning, scoring Jarrod Saltalamacchia from second with the tiebreaking run and lifting the Red Sox to a 4-3 win over the Orioles on Wednesday night. "Sometimes its all about placement," he said, breaking into a smile. "I didnt get a lot of it, but its a funny game. You can hit a ball hard, guys were hitting the balls hard, but right at people. It just takes just one little squibber, one little jam shot to seal the deal." The AL East-leading Red Sox continued their run from last to first with another final at-bat win. It was the 20th time in their 79 wins that theyve gone ahead in their final turn at the plate. Last season, the Red Sox were last in the division with 69 wins. "This is a group that knows how to play with the game situation thats in front of them," Boston manager John Farrell said. "They love to compete and love to work on any given day. I think this is the 30th time weve come from behind to win and it kind of shows the grit and character thats been with this team all year." Shane Victorino drove in a run for Boston with an RBI single after collecting a career-best seven RBIs and hitting two homers in a 13-2 win on Tuesday night. Craig Breslow (4-2) got two outs to earn the win and Koji Uehara got his 14th save with a perfect ninth for Red Sox, who won their fourth straight. Chris Davis hit his major league-leading 47th homer and added an RBI double for Baltimore, which lost for the sixth time in its last eight games. Saltalamacchia hit a two-out double high off the left-field wall against Tommy Hunter (3-3) and Stephen Drew was walked intentionally before Carps bloop fell just past the glove of Machado in short left field. The Red Sox rallied against Baltimores bullpen, tying it 3-3 on Dustin Pedroias two-run single off Darren ODay in the seventh. Jacoby Ellsbury barely beat a throw to the plate, sliding in before a sweeping tag attempt by Matt Wieters. "Its not necessarily one that got away," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. "They just dumped one in over there." Ellsbury left the game for a defensive replacement in the top of the eighth. During his seventh inning at-bat, he fouled a ball off his right foot. Farrell said an exam at the park was negative. "Ill be in there tomorrow," Ellsbury said. "It didnt feel good at all, but obviously it was a big part of the game. I wanted to be in sccoring position to come around and score the run.dddddddddddd. It hit me on the foot. I wear a shin guard and it hit the top of the foot between the shin guard." With the Orioles leading 2-1 in the sixth, Davis belted a leadoff homer into Bostons bullpen. The Orioles had grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first on Davis RBI double into the right-field corner after Machado singled. They made it 2-0 in the third on Machados homer over the Green Monster. Baltimore starter Bud Norris held Boston to one run and four hits, striking out seven and walking four over 5 1-3 innings. He was pulled after 105 pitches. "Sometimes you look into it, sometimes you dont," he said of the number of pitches he made. "Tonight it definitely affected me." Bostons John Lackey lasted 7 1-3 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits, striking out four and walking one. The Red Sox cut it to 2-1 on Victorinos RBI single in the third, but they left the bases loaded when David Ortiz struck out swinging and Daniel Nava was called out on strikes. Ortiz, mired in a 0-for-18 slump, flew out to the left-field track twice in four at-bats. After the second one, which was caught in the corner for the final out of the fifth, he stood at first base for a while, looking toward the outfield before slowly walking to the dugout and slamming his helmet. NOTES: Orioles DH Wilson Betemit made his first start of the season after being sidelined since late March with a sprained right knee ligament and went 0 for 3. ... Ellsbury stole two bases, leaving him one short of 50 for the third time in his career. ... Farrell said RHP Clay Buchholz, on the DL since early June with a strained neck, will make his second rehab start Friday, pitching for Triple-A Pawtucket, and his third start "could be" in the majors. ... The Orioles recalled touted prospect Kevin Gausman from Triple-A Norfolk before the game and optioned left-hander Wei-Yin Chen to their Gulf Coast League affiliate. Showalter said "service time" allowed the club to send Chen to Sarasota, Fla. Hes scheduled to make his next start Sunday at New York against the Yankees. "Initially, I think he was thinking because he had a bad start last night that we were sending him to the Gulf Coast League," Showalter said. "That wasnt the case at all. His service time allowed us to send him there. He understands." ... RHP Chris Tillman (14-4, 3.66 ERA) goes in the series finale against Boston LHP Jon Lester (12-7, 3.97 ERA). ... Family members of MIT Police officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed by the Boston Marathon bombers, threw out ceremonial first pitches. ' ' '