ch by Griffin and Paul -- and a

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Auckland, New Zealand (SportsNetwork. .com) - Caroline Wozniacki was a quarterfinal winner on Thursday at the ASB Classic. The top-seeded Wozniacki beat Germanys Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-4 in just under 87 minutes at ASB Tennis Centre. The former world No. 1 won 63 percent of her first service points. Venus Williams, who is the third seed at the tournament, was down 4-2 to Elena Vesnina in the second set, but rallied to win in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals. Fourth-seeded Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova grabbed a 6-4, 7-5 decision over seventh-seeded American Coco Vandeweghe. Strycova fired eight aces and won 69 percent of her first service points. . The Red Wings hadnt played the night before. The Boston Bruins had. A month from now, or two months from now, it doesnt matter. But right now it does matter, when you start and you play back to back, its wear and tear on you for sure, Babcock said. . However, the intensity and physicality that has characterized the postseason so far has caught Gretzky by surprise. "Its a little bit risqué right now," Gretzky told Philadelphia radio station 97. . Wiggins, who had been seen as a contender for a podium finish in Paris, was one of about 20 riders caught near the back of the peloton with 38 kilometres to go in the 218-km flat stage from Le Mans to Chateauroux.LOS ANGELES -- Russell Westbrook scored 30 points in his return to the lineup, Kevin Durant added 27, and the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the Los Angeles Clippers 107-101 Wednesday night in a possible playoff preview. Serge Ibaka added 15 points for the Thunder, who had their starting five together for just the second time since Christmas Day. Westbrook had sat out two of the previous three games and has missed 34 games this season with a variety of injuries. Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds, and Chris Paul added 25 points and eight assists for the Clippers, who could have owned the tiebreaker over the Thunder if they had won. Instead, the teams split their season series 2-2. Los Angeles rallied from a 15-point deficit in the fourth to twice get within a point, but the Clippers only lead was by one point in the first quarter. The Clippers big run had them trailing 94-93, with Paul sandwiching 3-pointers around Griffins free throw and DeAndre Jordan dunking off Darren Collisons miss to cap a 14-0 run with 5:03 to play. Jordan finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Griffin missed two free throws that would have tied the game at 97. Westbrooks putback dunk off Durants miss kept the Thunder ahead 99-95. Durants 3-pointer pushed their lead to 102-97 before Collison answered with a 3 to get the Clippers within two. Matt Barnes fouled Durant, who made both for a 104-100 lead. Paul missed the first and made the second free throw with 38 seconds left to keep the Clippers down by three. The final 38 seconds were a free throw contest, with the Thunder making 3 of 4 to close out the win. The Thunder are second in the West sstandings with four games remaining in the regular season; the Clippers are third with three to play. . They could potentially meet in the second round of the playoffs. Oklahoma City opened the third on a 14-4 run, with four different players scoring in extending the lead to 73-58. Durant scored four in a row to push the Thunders lead to 81-64. Defensively, the Thunder forced the Clippers into a mistake-prone, eight-minute stretch that included four turnovers -- two each by Griffin and Paul -- and a series of missed shots. Led by five points from Paul and three by Griffin, the Clippers ran off nine in a row to get within eight before Reggie Jacksons 3-pointer sent the Thunder into the fourth leading 85-73. The Thunder led by 15 points when the Clippers offence put together a 20-10 run to trail 59-54 at halftime. Jordan starred in his own highlight reel, dunking three times, twice off alley-oop passes. Griffin got in a slam of his own and Hedo Turkoglu hit a 3-pointer that beat the shot clock and helped bring the Clippers back within single digits. Notes: The Thunder improved to 8-6 in the second game of a back-to-back. They were playing their 14th such set this season. ... Theres still no timetable for the return of Clippers G Jamal Crawford (sore left Achilles tendon) and F Danny Granger (strained left hamstring). Crawford has missed five straight games and Granger six. ... The Clippers are one win away from tying the franchise record of 56 wins in the regular season, set on the last day of the season a year ago. ... Rapper Drake and singer Rihanna, sitting separately, and former NBA guard Baron Davis attended the game. ' ' '

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