WASHINGTON -- Chris Paul called it a "must-win." Blake Griffin deemed it a "Game 7," which, technically, it was. Like many weary teams before them, the Los Angeles Clippers could have mentally checked out when faced with the final game of a long road trip. Instead, they shared the ball impeccably and wrapped up a tougher-than-it-shouldve-been East Coast swing Saturday night with a 113-97 win over the Washington Wizards. "We wanted to try to turn this from an OK trip into a good trip," Paul said. "There was a lot of factors. Its a long flight back home, and weve got a lot of sore losers on this team." Los Angeles never trailed and had assists on 27 of 39 field goals, including 16 of 21 in the first half. Paul finished with 38 points and 12 assists, and the Clippers shot 56 per cent to conclude a 4-3 journey that included games against six Eastern Conference teams, leaving them 6-6 on the season against the pedestrian East and 10-3 against the mighty West. "This was important to close out," Griffin said. "We kind of looked at it as like a Game 7 for us, being on the road. Game 7, got to win. I thought we responded well." Griffin had 16 points and nine rebounds and was particularly vocal, keeping his teammates focused on the game at hand. The Clippers, on the road since Dec. 2, had already logged more than 6,000 miles on the trip. "Blake Griffin, every timeout, kept saying, No letup. Were the tired team, lets not think about it. Lets keep playing," coach Doc Rivers said. Paul was also at the forefront of the dont-let-up agenda. Sure, he was exaggerating when he called this a must-win in the wake of Thursdays loss at Brooklyn, but sometimes thats what it takes. "Were going to make him say that every night," Rivers joked. Paul went 11 for 14 from the field and made all 11 of his free throws. Jamal Crawford played the fifth man instead of the sixth man, making his first start since April 9, 2012, and finished with 17 points. Jared Dudley, who apologized to fans on Twitter after a 1-for-7 shooting performance against Brooklyn, found his game and carried the Clippers early, going 4 for 5 in the first quarter and finishing with 16 points. "Hes a great shooter," Rivers said. "Its not going away forever. It just went away for a little while, and we wanted it to come back as soon as possible." John Wall had 24 points and 12 assists for the Wizards, who have lost four straight since reaching .500 for the first time since 2009. The outcome appeared predetermined when coach Randy Wittman announced before the game that Nene would sit out again because of a foot injury. The Wizards have lost seven in a row when Nene doesnt play and are 3-24 without the Brazilian forward since the beginning of last season. But even Nene probably wouldnt have made much of a difference against the efficient Clippers. "You could see theres a difference between the teams, the way they talk to each other, the way they communicate, just basically the rule of winning," Washington centre Marcin Gortat said. Gortat, who went 3 for 10 from the field, also stirred the pot by saying the Wizards arent using him the right way. "I dont like the position I play," Gortat said. "Im constantly drifting more and more away from the basket and quite honestly, thats not my game. ... I just think Ive got to talk to Coach and just clear things up." The Clippers were always in control, but a 6-0 run consisting of nothing but dunks -- one by Griffin, two by DeAndre Jordan -- pushed the lead to 19 in the third quarter and pretty much settled the matter. The Wizards trailed by double digits for the entire second half. "They got everything they wanted," Washington swingman Trevor Ariza said. "We didnt get any stops." 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Kansas coach Bill Self wanted to drive home the importance that those games against the Wildcats have taken on over the years. The message must have come through quite clearly. Wiggins scored 22 points, Selden added 20 and the No. 18 Jayhawks routed the 25th-ranked Wildcats 86-60 on Saturday for their sixth straight win in the series. "We wanted to put them in a mindset of the energy and the type of emotion this game has been played with in the past," Self said. "It might have helped. I dont know." It sure seemed as if it helped. Embiid contributed 11 points and nine rebounds, and Perry Ellis scored 12 as Kansas (11-4, 2-0 Big 12) shot 56 per cent and committed just seven turnovers. "It just shows were the dominant team in Kansas," Wiggins said. The Wildcats (12-4, 2-1), who had won their last 10 games, lost their seventh straight at Allen Fieldhouse and for the 48th time in the last 51 meetings. Nino Williams had 12 points and Thomas Gipson scored 10 to lead Kansas State, but top scorer Marcus Foster was held to just seven points on 3-of-12 shooting. They have great depth. Theyve got so many weapons," Wildcats coach Bruce Weber said. "You try to take away something and you have to give something, and they made shots." Just about the only thing that didnt go right for Kansas came late in the game, when Embiid threw an elbow that clipped Williams in the face. Embiid got a technical foul and was ejected, but a Big 12 official said he would not be suspended for Monday nights game at Iowa State. "Regardless of what took prior, you have to be tough enough to think, Next play," Self said. "Thats frustrating to me that it would happen, even if it was a situation where itt was retaliatory, and I have no idea if it was.dddddddddddd" Kansas State actually hung tough through the first 10 minutes of the game, finding a basket every time the frenzied crowd inside Allen Fieldhouse reached a throaty roar. But a couple of foul shots by Selden and a 3-pointer by Conner Frankamp set the Jayhawks off and running. Tarik Blacks basket in the paint finished off a 9-2 surge, and a put-back by Ellis off his own miss a few minutes later wrapped up another 9-2 run and gave Kansas a 33-18 lead. Selden, coming off a career-best 24 points at Oklahoma, knocked down a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to send the Jayhawks into the locker room with a 45-28 cushion. Suddenly, the 278th meeting between the schools looked like so many before it. How impressive was the first half for Kansas? The Wildcats had been holding opponents to just 53 points per game during their 10-game win streak, yet allowed the Jayhawks to pile up 14 assists without a turnover and shoot 65.5 per cent from the field. As if things werent going perfectly enough for Kansas, Embiid knocked down a 3 from the top of the key to open the second half -- hed missed the first two tries of his career. The Jayhawks partied hard the rest of the game. There was the alley-oop dunk by Wiggins off a feed from Selden, and a nimble post move by Embiid that resulted in another dunk. And even when Wiggins threw the ball away for the Jayhawks first turnover, he atoned for it with back-to-back 3-pointers for a 58-34 lead. Then came Wiggins biggest highlight, a one-handed slam that went through the rim with such force that the ball bounced the entire length of the floor the other direction. In a sign of just how badly things were going for the Wildcats, they were hit with three charging fouls in a span of just a few minutes in the second half. Its become rare enough to see one offensive foul in a game the way such calls are being made this season. "It was an offensive game and were not an offensive team yet," Williams said. "Were a defensive team and we let the offence dictate the game." NFL Jerseys Cheap China Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Jerseys NFL Cheap ' ' '