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Mayo gives Clippers clinic in 4th quarter

The Clippers’ Mo Williams (25) slaps the ball away from the Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay, who led Memphis with 21 points. (Associated Press)
The Clippers’ Mo Williams (25) slaps the ball away from the Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay, who led Memphis with 21 points. (Associated Press)

NBA: O.J. Mayo scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and the Memphis Grizzlies bounced back to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 105-98 on Wednesday night at Memphis, Tenn.

The Grizzlies blew a 27-point lead in losing Sunday night and letting the Clippers grab home-court advantage in the best-of-7, first-round Western Conference series. They got back to their physical style and evened the series.

Game 3 is Saturday in Los Angeles.

Rudy Gay scored 21 points as Memphis showed off its depth with six players reaching double figures.

• Spurs bury Jazz: Tony Parker scored 18 points and the San Antonio Spurs handed visiting Utah its second-worst playoff loss in franchise history, beating the Jazz 114-83 to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.

NBA Coach of the Year Gregg Popovich practically put the Spurs on autopilot after a 20-0 run in the second quarter that stunned the Jazz, who had vowed to play better after the Spurs easily won Game 1. But this humiliating rout was even easier. Game 3 is Saturday night in Salt Lake City.

• Granger powers Pacers: Danny Granger had 26 points and nine rebounds, Roy Hibbert added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Orlando Magic 97-74 at Orlando, Fla., to a take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.

The Pacers regained home-court advantage with the victory, riding good shooting early and building a 29-point lead in the fourth quarter.

NFL suspends Saints’ Vilma for season

NFL: Hoping to close the book on bounties, the NFL suspended New Orleans Saints defensive captain Jonathan Vilma without pay for all of next season and gave shorter bans to three other players for their leading roles in the team’s cash-for-hits system that knocked key opponents out of games from 2009-11.

Defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove, now with the Green Bay Packers, was suspended for the first half of the 16-game season; Saints defensive end Will Smith was barred for the opening four games; and linebacker Scott Fujita, now with the Cleveland Browns, will miss the first three games of 2012. Like Vilma, they were suspended without pay, costing each hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The suspended players have three days to appeal, and NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith said the union would fight the ruling.

Pettitte testimony hurts prosecution

MISCELLANY: With two short answers, Andy Pettitte called into question the validity of his testimony against Roger Clemens, part of a discouraging day for prosecutors in the retrial of the seven-time Cy Young Award winner.

Pettitte, Clemens’ longtime friend and former teammate, was on the stand for a second day in the trial that is to determine whether Clemens lied at a 2008 congressional deposition and hearing when he denied taking steroids and human growth hormone.

During cross-examination, Clemens’ lawyers got exactly the answers they wanted.

Might Pettitte have misunderstood when Clemens supposedly acknowledged using human growth hormone to Pettitte in a conversation during the 1999-2000 offseason?

“I could have,” Pettitte answered.

Is it fair to say there is a “50-50” chance that Pettitte misunderstood?

“I’d say that’s fair,” Pettitte replied.

• Texas State joins Sun Belt: Texas State is going to the Sun Belt Conference after only one season in the WAC.

The Sun Belt said that Texas State will join the league in July 2013 and begin conference play for the 2013-14 academic year.

• Butler joins Atlantic 10: Butler is leaving the Horizon League and joining the Atlantic 10 beginning with the 2013-14 season.

Rangers beat Caps in three overtimes

NHL: Marian Gaborik scored at 14:41 of the third overtime, and the visiting New York Rangers outlasted the Washington Capitals in a 2-1 victory to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Brad Richards was near the backboards before sending a pass in front to Gaborik, who ended the marathon by sliding the puck between the pads of rookie goaltender Braden Holtby.

Henrik Lundqvist had 45 saves for New York. Holtby stopped 47 shots for the Capitals.

• Predators bounce back: Pekka Rinne made 32 saves as he returned to his dominating form, Mike Fisher scored his first goal of these playoffs, and the Nashville Predators found their rhythm with a 2-0 win over the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series at Nashville, Tenn. Phoenix leads 2-1 in the series.