the nation watching at the world juniors. After shaking

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Detroit Pistons have won two straight for only the second time this season, but itll be tough sledding in a bid for three in a row Monday night when they visit Staples Center to take on a Los Angeles Clippers team in need of a win. The Pistons dropped 13 in a row until a victory over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night. Detroit continued the momentum Saturday with a 95-90 win over the Sacramento Kings. Josh Smith scored 21 points with 13 rebounds, five assists and five blocks to help the Pistons to victory. Greg Monroe led the Pistons with 21 points and Andre Drummond checked in with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Its been a long time, and then we get two in a row, said Detroit head coach Stan Van Gundy. The main thing was our defense. We rebounded, obviously, weve struggled badly, but defensively holding them to 36 percent, I think was good. The Pistons forced 17 Sacramento turnovers en route to the victory. Detroit will go searching for its first three-game winning streak since February. The Pistons havent swept a three-game western trip since November of 2008. The Pistons head back to Detroit for two straight, starting Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks. The Clippers return to Hollywood after a 1-2 road trip and the losses came in the last two stops. Los Angeles fell to the Washington Wizards on Friday night, then lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 111-106, on Saturday. The Clippers, who have lost two in a row on the heels of a season-long nine- game winning streak, got contributions from its role players while the stars struggled. Matt Barnes scored a game- and season-high 26 points and J.J. Redick dropped 25, while Chris Paul and Blake Griffin netted 10 points apiece. The Bucks played well, but when you allow a team to shoot 56 percent from the field you probably lose the game and we did, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. Paul, the leagues most sure-handed player, has committed six turnovers in back-to-back games. LA fought hard in the game. Milwaukees 12-point lead with 4 1/2 minutes to play was trimmed to five following a 7-0 Clippers run. The Bucks held a narrow lead the rest of the way, but Jamal Crawford stepped into a deep 3-pointer with three seconds remaining to make things interesting. His heave made it a three-point game, and Brandon Knights ensuing inbounds pass was deflected out of bounds. Referees went to the video monitor to determine if the ball hit Knight before landing, but the Bucks were ultimately rewarded the ball. Knight made two free throws to seal the outcome. The Clippers bested the Pistons by six at The Palace of Auburn Hills on Nov. 26 and have won seven in a row in this series. LA has taken three straight as the host against Detroit. Best Cheap Fake Shoes . Horford is out 3-to-4 months with a torn pectoral muscle for the Hawks, who have won two straight and five of six games. 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Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday.SARNIA, Ont. - Connor McDavid skated to centre ice and got a standing ovation, only this time it was from 3,221 fans in a half-empty arena instead of a packed and roaring Air Canada Centre.McDavid stood on the blue-line and listened to O Canada, only this time he wasnt wearing red-and-white and, more importantly, didnt have a gold medal around his neck.Thursday night the 17-year-old who evolved into Canadas best player at the world junior championship on the road to gold went back to work. As McDavid returned to the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League three days after the biggest accomplishment of his life, he fully appreciated the stark contrast of life on the bus in major junior hockey.Its a little different, the soft-spoken McDavid said after a last-minute loss to the Sarnia Sting. You go from one night and youre playing in front of 20,000 at the Air Canada Centre and its a little bit different here tonight. It was a little bit hard. It was a little bit of an adjustment.But it was an adjustment McDavid was committed to making. Otters owner and general manager Sherry Bassin gave the Newmarket, Ont., native permission to relax with his family at home for a few days and meet the team anywhere.Instead, McDavid drove back to Erie and hopped on the bus with his junior teammates Wednesday.I told him to stay and rest and he said, No, no, no. I want to be with the team, Bassin said. Thats how humble he is. ... He set a new mould.While Canadian linemate Curtis Lazar checked his gold medal in his luggage as he flew to Philadelphia to rejoin the Ottawa Senators in the NHL, McDavid left his gold medal at home with his parents. Two of his teammates, Remi Elie and new linemate Nick Baptiste, were cut from the team in training camp, so taking it to show off wouldnt have been wise.The decision to go back to Erie and resume life on the road appeared an easy one. Maybe it was logistics.I had to get my stuff back to Erie somehow, McDavid said. Its nice to see the guys and spend the day with them. Its kind of nice on the bus and on the road. Its good to see everyone again.Watching McDavid dazzle on the ice, its easy to forget that hes only 17 and will celebrate his 18th birthday next week. Barring something completely out of the ordinary, hell be the No. 1 pick in Junes NHL draft and is considered a generational talent in the skate tracks of Sidney Crosby.McDavid accepts this part of his journey even if as a hockey player hes light years better than everyone on the ice. That includes bumps in the road like staying at the Quality Inn in Niagara Falls, Ont., WWednesday night when snow closed the 402 highway into Sarnia.ddddddddddddThat snowstorm cancelled Eries morning skate and meant McDavids first time back on the ice after winning world-junior gold was in warm-ups Thursday night at Sarnias RBC Centre. In a 5,500-seat rink that couldve been in Anywhere, Ont., McDavid was there until the final buzzer and came down from the high that was Monday night.You have to at some point, McDavid said. You cant live on a high of winning that game. Youve got to come down sometime. Its going to be fast.As Jenna Cimetta sang O Canada, McDavid couldnt help but think back to three nights earlier when 19,004 patriotic fans joined him and his teammates for a more emotional rendition. On the ice, he didnt look like he had lost a step.McDavid scored his 17th goal of the season in highlight-reel fashion when he went around Sting defenders like they were traffic cones and put the puck through Alex Blacks stick before finishing. It was his 52nd point in what was just his 19th game of the year after missing two months with a broken bone in his hand and then two more weeks because of the world juniors.But the real moment of coming back down to earth was in the aftermath of a tough defeat. The Otters blew a three-goal lead and gave up the winner with 2.3 seconds left, leading to McDavids first loss since Nov. 6.These werent the stakes of the world juniors, but McDavid said its still really good hockey, top of the line, and youve got to be better than that.McDavid was at his best with the nation watching at the world juniors. After shaking off the rust early, he finished tied for the lead in scoring with 11 points on three goals and eight assists.With Canada, McDavid was the second-line centre and shined as a young player in what NHL Central Scoutings Dan Marr pointed out is a 19-year-old tournament. Hes even more important to the Otters, who hope to make a run at the Memorial Cup this spring.Bassin said it would be difficult for an outsider to comprehend the value of getting McDavid back. The lifelong hockey man acquired two players before the trade deadline but said having McDavid back on the ice was like getting four, because McDavids like two.You wouldnt understand how much it means, Bassin said. You cant begin to imagine.Fans attending Monday nights gold-medal game could imagine their lives changing by winning the 50/50 raffle, which was worth an Air Canada Centre record $90,150. At Thursday nights Otters-Sting game, it was $1,810.50.It doesnt get more back to normal than that.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter. ' ' '