L.A. Clippers Part Ways With Coach Vinny Del Negro

Harry How/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- The Los Angeles Clippers announced on Tuesday that Vinny Del Negro will not return as head coach, after they were bounced from the first round of the NBA playoffs by the Memphis Grizzlies. His current contract expires at the end of June.

“We would like to thank Vinny for everything he did during his three years with the organization,” Clippers vice president of basketball operations Gary Sacks said. “Vinny helped this team win a Pacific Division title and we greatly appreciate all that he and his staff helped us accomplish. This was a difficult decision, but we feel this is the best decision for our franchise moving forward.”

In three seasons roaming the sidelines for the Clippers, the 46-year-old Del Negro went 128-102, leading them to the playoffs twice. This season, the club won a franchise-record 56 games, clinching their first Pacific Division title.

Del Negro previously coached the Chicago Bulls for two seasons.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Grizzlies Advance to First Ever Western Conference Finals

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images(OKLAHOMA CITY) --  Zach Randolph scored 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Memphis Grizzlies advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time in franchise history by knocking off the Oklahoma City Thunder 88-84 on Wednesday night.

"This is the first time, so it definitely means a lot. I'm happy, but we've still got work to do," Randolph said. "I want to win a ring."

Mike Conley added 13 points and 11 assists for the fifth-seeded Grizzlies, who had won just one postseason series coming into the season.

They used their trademark grit-and-grind mentality to defeat two high-scoring the teams, the Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Kevin Durant finished with 21 points on 5-for-21 shooting, but missed a shot with six seconds left that would have tied the game at 86.  They trailed by 12 points with three minutes remaining but mounted a furious comeback that came up just short.

"I gave it all I had for my team. I left it all out there on the floor," Durant said. "I missed 16 shots, but I kept fighting, I kept being aggressive. That's all I can ask for."

The Thunder were playing without All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook for most of the postseason after he tore his meniscus in the first round.

Memphis will play either the Golden State Warriors or the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Scoreboard Roundup - 5/3/13

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- NBA Playoffs - First Round: Indiana Pacers 81 - Atlanta Hawks 73 (Pacers win series, 4-2)

New York Knicks 88 - Boston Celtics 80 (Knicks win series, 4-2)

Oklahoma City Thunder 103- Houston Rockets 94 (Thunder win series, 4-2)

Memphis Grizzlies 118 - Los Angeles Clippers 105 (Grizzlies win series, 4-2)

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs - Quarterfinals: New York Islanders 4 - Pittsburgh Penguins 3 (Series tied, 1-1)

Montreal Canadiens 3 - Ottawa Senators 1 (Series tied, 1-1)

Chicago Blackhawks 5 - Minnesota Wild 2 (Blackhawks lead series, 2-0)

San Jose Sharks 3 - Vancouver Canucks 2 OT (Sharks lead series, 2-0)

MLB: Cincinnati Reds 6 (16-14) - Chicago Cubs 5 (11-18)

Seattle Mariners 4 (14-17) - Toronto Blue Jays 0 (10-20)

Philadelphia Phillies 4 (14-16) - Miami Marlins 1 (8-22)

Pittsburgh Pirates 3 (17-12) - Washington Nationals 1 (15-15)

Oakland Athletics 2 (17-13) - New York Yankees 0 (17-11)

Cleveland Indians 7 (13-13) - Minnesota Twins 6 (12-13) 10 innings

New York Mets 7 (12-15) - Atlanta Braves 5 (17-12) 10 innings

St. Louis Cardinals 6 (18-11) - Milwaukee Brewers 1 (14-14)

Texas Rangers 7 (18-11) - Boston Red Sox 0 (20-9)

Detroit Tigers 4 (17-11) - Houston Astros 3 (8-22)

Tampa Bay Rays 7 (13-15) - Colorado Rockies 4 (17-12) 10 innings

Los Angeles Angels 4 (11-18) - Baltimore Orioels 0 (17-13)

San Diego Padres 7 (12-17) - Arizona Diamondbacks 6 (15-14)

San Francisco Giants 2 (17-12) - Los Angeles Dodgers 1 (13-15)

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Grizzlies Stuff Clippers for 3-2 Series Lead

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) --  With the series tied 2-2, the Memphis Grizzlies knew they needed a win in Los Angeles if they wanted to win the series.

Zach Randolphs and Marc Gasol combined to score 46 points and grab 19 rebounds as the Grizzlies crushed the Clippers 103-93 to take a 3-2 series lead in their first-round playoff series.

"It certainly feels better than going home down 2-3," coach Lionel Hollins said.

Randolph scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to help the Grizzlies withstand a late rally by the Clippers.  

Chris Paul scored 35 points for the Clippers, who dealt with a Blake Griffin ankle injury for the entire game.  The All-Star forward rolled his ankle during practice on Monday and had a tough time getting up and down the floor.  He finished with just four points and five rebounds.

Game six will be played Friday night in Memphis, where the Grizzlies will look to wrap up the series.

"We're not going to lay down and we're never going to give up," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We're going to play hard, play together and try to do what we can to make it work. We've got to regroup and see how healthy we can get between now and then."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Grizzlies Power Past Clippers To Even Series

Andy Lyons/Getty Images(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) --  Marc Gasol scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 104-83 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.

Zach Randolph added 24 points and nine rebounds as the Grizzlies evened their first-round playoff series at two games each.

"Their synergy is pretty amazing, you know what I mean," Clippers guard Chris Paul said. "Z-Bo on the inside and big fella Marc, that's another guard the way he passes the ball and shoots the ball. You just got to run them. You got to run them. You got to try to get them tired. You can't just leave them in a rocking chair.

The Grizzlies controlled the majority of the game, never letting the Clippers lead by more than two points.  They took the lead for good on a Randolph layup with 3:21 left in the third quarter.

The Clippers were led with 19 points from both Paul and Blake Griffin

"Now we got to go out there and try to get a win," Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said, referring to Tuesday's Game 5 in Los Angeles.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Randolph Leads Grizzlies Past Clippers

Andy Lyons/Getty Images(MEMPHIS) -- The Memphis Grizzlies have crawled back into their first round playoff series.

Zach Randolph scored 27 points and pulled down 11 boards as the Grizzlies devoured the Los Angeles Clippers 94-82 Thursday night. The Grizzlies now trail the Clippers 2-1 in the best-of-seven-series.

Randolph scored 13 of his points in the first 9:13 minutes of the game.

"I definitely wanted to come out and be aggressive," Randolph said when asked about his big first quarter. "They've been double teaming me, triple teaming me so just go fast hit a couple of jump shots and open it up."

The game was never in doubt for the Grizzlies, who didn't relinquish the lead from the 5:33 mark in the first quarter on. Memphis also outrebounded the Clippers 45-33.

Blake Griffin led Los Angeles with 16 points in the loss.

Game 4 is set for Saturday in Memphis. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 PM eastern time.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Chris Paul Floater Leads Clippers Over Grizzlies

Jeff Gross/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) --  Chris Paul banked in a floater with one tenth of a second remaining to give the Los Angeles Clippers a 93-91 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.

The victory also gave the Clippers a 2-0 series lead as play now shifts to Memphis for Games 3 and 4.

"Tony played as good as defense as you can," Paul said, referring to Grizzlies guard Tony Allen. "I looked up at the clock and thought I better get a shot off."

Paul finished with 24 points and nine assists well fellow All-Star Blake Grififn chipped in 21 points.

Mike Conley led the Grizzlies with 28 points and nine assists.  "It hurts," he said. "We wanted to come here and steal one."

Marc Gasol tied the game at 91 with 13 seconds left, but after a timeout Paul took the game into his own hands and carried the Clippers to victory.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Scoreboard Roundup - 4/20/13

TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) --  NBA Playoffs: Eastern Conference First Round:  New York Knicks 85 (1-0) - Boston Celtics 78 (0-1)

Brooklyn Nets 106 (1-0) - Chicago Bulls 89 (0-1)

Western Conference First Round:  Denver Nuggets 97 (1-0) - Golden State Warriors 95 (0-1)

Los Angeles Clippers 112 (1-0) - Memphis Grizzlies 91 (0-1)

MLB:  New York Yankees 5 (10-6) - Toronto Blue Jays 3 (7-11) F/11

Cincinnati Reds 3 (10-8) - Miami Marlins 2 (4-14) F/13

Boston Red Sox 4 (12-4) - Kansas City Royals 3 (8-7)

Washington Nationals 7 (10-7) -  New York Mets 6 (8-8)

Los Angeles Angels 10 (6-10) - Detroit Tigers 0 (9-8)

Minnesota Twins 2 (7-7) - Chicago White Sox 1 (7-10)

Baltimore Orioles 7 (9-7) -  Los Angeles Dodgers 5 (7-9) Game one of doubleheader

Baltimore Orioles 6 (10-7) - Los Angeles Dodgers 1 (7-10) Game two of doubleheader

St. Louis Cardinals 5 (10-7) -  Philadelphia Phillies 0 (7-11)

Pittsburgh Pirates 3 (9-8) - Atlanta Braves 1 (13-4)

Milwaukee Brewers 5 (8-8) - Chicago Cubs 1 (5-11)

Tampa Bay Rays 1 (7-10) Athletics 0 (12-6)

Texas Rangers 5 (11-6) - Seattle Mariners 0 (7-12)

Colorado Rockies 4 (13-4) - Arizona Diamondbacks 3 (9-8)

Cleveland Indians 19 (6-10) - Houston Astros 6 (5-12)

San Francisco Giants 2 (11-7) - San Diego Padres 0 (5-12)

NHL:  Pittsburgh Penguins 3 (34-10-0; 68pts) - Boston Bruins 2 (26-12-5; 57pts)

New York Islanders 5 (24-16-5; 53pts) - Winnipeg Jets 4 (23-19-3; 49 pts) SO

New Jersey Devils 6 (17-17-10; 44 pts) - Florida Panthers 2 (13-25-6; 32pts)

Washington Capitals 5 (25-18-2; 52pts) - Montreal Canadiens 1 (27-3-5; 59pts)

Toronto Maple Leafs 4 (25-15-5; 55pts) - Ottawa Senators 1 (23-15-6; 52pts)

Philadelphia Flyers 5 (20-22-3; 43pts) - Carolina Hurricanes 3 (17-24-3; 37pts)

Phoenix Coyotes 3 (19-17-8, 46pts) - Chicago Blackhawks 2 (34-5-5, 73pts) SO

Vancouver Canucks 2 (25-13-7, 57pts) - Detroit Red Wings 1 (20-16-8, 48pts) SO

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Clippers Pop Lakers, 109-95, Win Pacific Title

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- The Los Angeles Clippers (51-26) cruised past the Los Angeles Lakers (40-37), 109-95 on Sunday to claim their first Pacific Division title in franchise history.

Chris Paul led the way for the Clippers with 24 points and 12 assists and Blake Griffin chipped in with 24 points and 12 rebounds of his own in the win.

"It just feels like something we were supposed to do," said Pau.  "It means we're headed in the right direction. We're not satisfied. We understand this is something small compared to the big picture."

The last time the Clippers swept the season series with the Lakers was when the team was known as the Buffalo Braves during the 1974-75 season.

"It's always good to sweep a team in your division, in the West," said Griffin.  "I'm proud of how we won the game a little bit differently. We kept up a nice tempo the whole game."

Kobe Bryant scored 25 points and 10 assists in the loss.  The Lakers are now in a tie with the Utah Jazz for the final spot in the West.

"We've got a bigger challenge than worrying about beating the Clippers in one game," Bryant said. "They obviously performed extremely well against us all four times. Our concern is playing well in order to get into the playoffs, get guys healthy, and go in there and see what we can do."

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Clippers Maul Pistons

Robert Laberge/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- The Los Angeles Clippers got everyone involved on Sunday.

The Clippers set a season-high in points scored by throttling the Detroit Pistons, 129-97, at the Staples Center.

Los Angeles (45-20) had seven players in double figures and shot 62 percent from the field. Blake Griffin had 22 points, Chris Paul had 20 points and 14 assists and the team made 14 three-pointers.

DeAndre Jordan had 13 points, but his biggest basket came on a monster dunk over Detroit's Brandon Knight in the second quarter. "Usually I get that dunk and nobody is right there," Jordan said. "This is the first time somebody tried to block it." 

The Pistons (23-42) have lost five straight, and continue to be without coach Lawrence Frank. who has missed the last three games while dealing with a family matter.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio