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Two teams in the headlines will do battle in the Western Conference semifinals when the Oklahoma City Thunder host the Los Angeles Clippers in the series-opener Monday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena. For the second-seeded Thunder, "Mr. Unreliable" became something of a rallying cry. The Oklahoman ran that headline describing Kevin Durant, who will probably be handed the leagues MVP award before a home game during this series. Durant responded with 36 and 33 points in the final two games against the Memphis Grizzlies, both double-digit victories for OKC in elimination games during the first round. "Hes one of the best players on the planet," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said of his superstar. "Hes going to continue to help us win games and move us forward, not only with his shot-making, but his playmaking." Sadly, the Clippers headlines were of a much more serious tone during the first round against Golden State. Their owner, Donald Sterling, was caught on tape making racist comments. It affected the team in its Game 4 loss, then, before Game 5, NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life and prompted the Board of Governors to force Sterling to sell the team. Through this tumultuous time, the third-seeded Clippers hung on for a Game 7 win over the Warriors. "I just wanted us to win the game," said Clippers coach Doc Rivers. "Not because of all of this stuff, but this team just needed this win. I thought our guys fought. The adversity, they went through it. It drained them and they found enough energy to find a way to win the game." Each team features two superstars. For the Thunder, Durant averaged 29.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 blocks against the Grizz. Granted, Durant shot 44 percent and 32 percent from 3-point range, which are low numbers by his standards. Russell Westbrook averaged 25.6 points in the Grizzlies series, but he took 23 shot attempts a game, which was the same number as Durant. Westbrook shot 38 percent from the field and committed 4.9 turnovers per game. For LA, Chris Paul is the leader and scored 22 points and handed out 14 assists in the Game 7 victory. Blake Griffin blossomed into a well-rounded offensive machine. And special mention to Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan, who averaged 12.1 points, 15.1 rebounds and 4.0 blocks against the Warriors. During the season, the two squads were evenly matched. The Thunder have won five of the last seven meetings, but the two sides split four games this season and each team managed a win on the road. The Thunder were eliminated in this round last season by the Grizzlies when Westbrook got hurt in the first round against the Houston Rockets. The Clippers have never advanced past the second round in franchise history. Game 2 will be Wednesday night in OKC. Sammy Watkins Jersey .J. -- New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is going to start the off-season training program with a surgically repaired left ankle. Chiefs Jerseys .C. - Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says Danny Granger, Chris Andersen and Udonis Haslem are still not ready to play and will miss Wednesday nights game against the Charlotte Hornets. http://www.thechiefsshoponline.com/Youth...-Chiefs-Jersey/. The Toronto Argonauts (11-7) look for an opportunity to repeat as CFL champions when they host the surging Hamilton Tiger-Cats (10-8) on Sunday. Kendall Fuller Jersey . Lawrie was hit on the hand by Cincinnati pitcher Johnny Cueto in the second inning of Sundays 4-3 loss to the Reds. Breeland Speaks Chiefs Jersey . Snedekers best result so far this year is a tie for eighth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He sits 113th in FedEx Cup standings and has dropped to 31st in world rankings — not the results expected from a player ranked fourth in the world only two years ago.CHICAGO - The NCAA agreed on Tuesday to help athletes with head injuries in a proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit that college sports governing body touted as a major step forward but that critics say doesnt go nearly far enough.The deal, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, calls for the NCAA to toughen return-to-play rules for players who receive head blows and create a $70 million fund to pay for thousands of current and former athletes to undergo testing to determine whether they suffered brain trauma while playing football and other contact sports.A lead attorney for the plaintiffs who spearheaded nearly a year of talks culminating in the agreement said the provisions would ultimately improve players safety and leave open the possibility of damage payments later.I wouldnt say these changes solve the safety problems, but they do reduce the risks, Chicago attorney Joseph Siprut said. Its changed college sports forever.Others strongly disagreed.Unlike a proposed settlement in a similar lawsuit against the NFL, this deal does not set aside any money to pay players who suffered brain trauma. Instead, athletes can sue individually for damages; the NCAA-funded tests that would gauge the extent of neurological injuries could establish grounds for doing just that.One plaintiffs attorney not involved in the negotiations called it a terrible deal that lets the NCAA off the hook far too easily. Jay Edelson called the agreement window dressing, saying the NCAA will be able to settle one-off suits for several thousand each. He estimated that single, class-action damages settlement could have been worth $2 billion to players.Instead, he said, its worthless.The settlement is primarily directed at men and women who participated in basketball, football, ice hockey, soccer, wrestling, field hockey and lacrosse.There is no cutoff date for when athletes must have played a designated sport at one of the more than 1,000 NCAA member schools to qualify for the medical exams. That means all athletes currently playing and those who participated decades ago could undergo the tests and potentially follow up with damage claims.Tuesdays filing serves as notice to the judge overseeing the case that the parties struck a deal. At a status hearing later in the day, U.S. District Judge John Lee said he wanted more time to consider whether to give the deal preliminary approval. If he does, affected athletes will have a chance to weigh in before Lee decides about granting a final OK.The NCAA, which admits no wrongdoing in the settlement and has denied understating the dangers of concussions, hailed the deal.This agreements proactive measures will ensure student-athletes have access to high quality medical care by physicians with experience in the diagnosis, treatment and management of concussions, NCAAs chief medical officer Brian Hainline said.Siprut added that striicter rules and oversight should help ensure the viability of football by allaying fears of parents now inclined to not let their kids play.ddddddddddddAbsent these kinds of changes, the sport will die, he said.To keep the NCAA from having to hold unwieldy talks with multiple plaintiffs, 10 lawsuits filed nationwide were consolidated into the one case in Chicago, where the first lawsuit was filed in 2011.The lead plaintiff is Adrian Arrington, a former safety at Eastern Illinois. He said he endured five concussions while playing, some so severe he has said he couldnt recognize his parents afterward.Another named plaintiff is former Central Arkansas wide receiver Derek K. Owens. His symptoms became so severe he dropped out of school in 2011, telling his mother: I feel like a 22-year-old with Alzheimers.Among other settlement terms, all athletes will take baseline neurological tests to start each year to help doctors determine the severity of any concussion during the season; concussion education will be mandated for coaches and athletes; and a new, independent Medical Science Committee will oversee the medical testing.Robert Cantu, a Boston-based clinical professor of neurosurgery and a longtime critic of the NCAA, said the deal is a huge shift by the organization.Itll make collision sports much safer, said Cantu, who was one of the plaintiffs experts.But former UCLA linebacker Ramogi Huma said its all for show.It takes some of the things many of us have been advocating for and pretends to address it, Huma, president of the College Athletes Players Association, said.Plaintiffs filings say the number of athletes who may require testing to learn if they suffered long-term damage runs into the tens of thousands. They cite NCAA figures that from 2004 to 2009 alone, 29,225 athletes suffered concussions.Internal emails unsealed in the lawsuit illustrate how pressure mounted on the NCAA over the issue.In a Feb. 23, 2010, email, the NCAAs director of government relations, Abe Frank, wondered whether debates about new safeguards for young children playing contact sports would crank up the pressure on the NCAA to do more.David Klossner, NCAAs then-director of health and safety, responded bluntly a few hours later: Well since we dont currently require anything all steps are higher than ours.Later that year, the NCAA established a head-injury policy that states that athletes should be kept from play for at least a day after a concussion. It also requires each school to have a concussion management plan on hand.But plaintiffs blamed a tendency of some teams to hurry concussed players back into games, in part, on the NCAAs lax enforcement of the policy.In a 2012 deposition, asked if any schools had been disciplined for having subpar concussion plans, Klossner said, Not to my knowledge.___Follow Michael Tarm on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mtarm Cheap Celtics Jerseys Wholesale Nets Jerseys Cheap Knicks Jerseys Cheap Stitched 76ers Jerseys Raptors Jerseys China Cheap Bulls Jerseys Wholesale Cavaliers Jerseys Pistons Jerseys China Pacers Jerseys China Cheap Bucks Jerseys Online Wholesale Hawks Jerseys Cheap Hornets Jerseys Wholesale Heat Jerseys Cheap Magic Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Wizards Jerseys Nuggets Jerseys China Timberwolves Jerseys China Cheap Thunder Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Blazers Jerseys Wholesale Jazz Jerseys Cheap Warriors Jerseys For Sale Cheap Clippers Jerseys Lakers Jerseys China Wholesale Suns Jerseys Cheap Kings Jerseys Authentic Cheap Mavericks Jerseys Rockets Jerseys China Cheap Grizzlies Jerseys Wholesale Pelicans Jerseys Spurs Jerseys China ' ' '