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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.Jason Spriggs Jersey .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. Cheap Packers Jerseys For Sale .Y. -- Injured Buffalo Sabres forward Marcus Foligno did not practice with the team Monday and head coach Ron Rolston said its unlikely hell play in Wednesdays season opener in Detroit. http://www.wholesalepackersjerseys.com/?tag=youth-lucas-patrick-jersey . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Reggie Gilbert Jersey . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. Jace Sternberger Jersey . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca.RIO DE JANEIRO -- The odds are good the U.S. will win the gold medal count once again in the Olympics.The odds are even better this year that there will be some money bet on it.Bookmakers in Las Vegas are making the U.S. the favorite to defend the gold medal crown from the London Olympics, with an over/under of 43.5 gold medals for the Americans. China is the only other country close to the U.S., with bookies putting that countrys gold medal line at 36.Its the first time since the 2000 Olympics in Sydney that bettors in Nevada have been able to put money on the games. So far, they havent exactly caught Olympic fever.Weve probably had 10 people come to the counter to bet it, said Jimmy Vaccaro, who sets odds at the South Point hotel sports book.Bookies who can usually pick the spread for an NFL game within a point or two off the top of their head have had to educate themselves on some unfamiliar sports that in any other year would not even attract the attention of bettors looking to make a score.Its easy enough to make Michael Phelps a favorite in most of his races, and for Usain Bolt to add three more golds to his growing collection. Not terribly difficult to pick the home country, Brazil, in both mens and womens volleyball, either.But making a line on things like Hyvin Jepkemoi of Kenya to win the 3,000-meter steeplechase (shes an even money favorite) is a little tougher. So is figuring out that Germanys Thomas Rohler should be a 5-4 favorite in the javelin.And with real money at stake, there is little room for error.If you put up something thats a weak line or make a mistake the sophisticated guys will be all over it, said Johnny Avello, who runs the sports book at the Wynn. They turn into good bettors if you have something wrong.Its pretty much a foregone concluusion the U.ddddddddddddS. mens and womens basketball teams will romp their way to gold. The U.S. women are so dominant that they are a staggering 57.5 point favorite to beat Senegal in their opening game, and you would have to wager $200 to win just $10 if you like either team to win the gold.Just as dominant is American gymnast Simone Biles, who could be the biggest star of the Rio Games. Biles is a 2-1 favorite to win the balance beam and the floor exercises, a co-favorite along with North Koreas Hong Un Jong to win the vault, and a big favorite to win the all around.She and her teammates are also whopping 22-1 picks to bring home the womens team gold.Since most sports rarely appear on an oddsmakers radar, they wont risk the house by taking huge bets. Avello said he would take a couple of dimes ($2,000) on most bets, while most books limit bets to half that.Betting on the Olympics is nothing new. Betting parlors in Britain did good business four years ago for the London Olympics, and have posted odds for years on both big and obscure events at the games.But bettors in the U.S. have been shutout since the 2000 Olympics because of an agreement Nevada gaming authorities made not to offer betting on amateur sports. The prohibition was lifted in Nevada last year, though, and bookies were quick to post odds.So far, though, the action has been minimal, mostly what Kornegay calls grocery store bets of $10 and $20.If America gets into the hype of the coverage maybe it will be more, he said. But I think people watch the Olympics more than they bet them. If Serbia plays Croatia in volleyball or something like that I dont think well get any bets.[u hype of the coverage maybe it will be m Wholesale Basketball Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys ' ' '