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WASHINGTON -- Bradley Beal fell a point short of his career high Sunday.Hell have to settle for making a fan out of Chris Paul.Beal scored 41 points -- including 18 during the third quarter -- in the Washington Wizards 117-110 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. In the process, he left the nine-time All-Star Paul thoroughly impressed.Brad looks like a totally different person, said Paul, who scored 13 points and had 12 assists for the Clippers. This is the Bradley Beal he should be all the time. Tonight he was aggressive. In order for this team to be as good as they probably want to be, he got to be like that.Markieff Morris had 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and John Wall added 18 points and 11 assists for the Wizards.After going down by seven, Washington closed the game on a 22-8 run to seal their third straight win and fifth out of six.The Wizards shot 80 percent (12 of 15) from the floor in the fourth, and on the other end held Blake Griffin scoreless after he had scored 26 in his first three periods.We wanted to make him shoot jump shots, Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. The ones he was making, in the second half he still made a few, but we still just wanted to stay with that strategy, and it paid off.DeAndre Jordan added 13 points and 17 rebounds Los Angeles, which played the final 1:08 without ejected coach Doc Rivers.This little stretch weve been winning games, but our defense still hasnt been great, Paul said. You want to win and learn at the same time, and it finally caught up with us.Beal hit 6 of 10 3-pointers and shot 13 of 23 from the floor during a night when he repeatedly took the initiative to drive the lane.And after his outburst in the third quarter helped Washington recover from an 11-point deficit, Beals 3-pointer from the right off Walls transition feed made it 102-102 with 5:01 left.Some 90 seconds later, Morris alley-oop slam of Walls lob gave Washington a 106-104 lead, its first after halftime.Then Morris leaning jumper after Jordan missed a pair of free throws made the lead six. Rivers received two technicals in the aftermath, and Beal hit both foul shots to make it 116-108 with 1:08 to play.He was able to get to the paint, get to the rim and get to the free throw line, Wall said of Beal. We found him a couple time in transition for some 3s. He was being aggressive on his own. And that kind of helped us get back into the game.TIP-INSClippers: Griffin passed Elton Brand for third on the Clippers career scoring list. ... F Luc Mbah a Moute (shoulder) returned to the starting lineup after missing two games.Wizards: F Kelly Oubre did not play and is in the leagues concussion protocol after running into a screen by Detroits Aron Baynes on Friday, coach Scott Brooks said. ... F/C Jason Smith sat out with a right hamstring injury picked up in Fridays game.AIR SHOWThree of Griffins seven assists resulted in alley-oop dunks for Jordan, including a stunning reverse slam that made it 83-80 with 2:13 left in the third quarter.On the other end, Morris tomahawk dunk over Marreese Speights tied it 89-89 early in the fourth and brought the Verizon Center crowd to its feet.FAMILY AFFAIRDoc Rivers dismissal came after his son, Clippers guard Austin Rivers, received his fifth technical of the season late in the first half.UP NEXTClippers: Begin a three-game homestand against Denver on Tuesday night.Wizards: Complete their sixth back-to-back set at Indiana on Monday night. Jay Bell Jersey . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Chris Young Jersey . Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set. https://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.us/1258l-craig-counsell-jersey-diamondbacks.html . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. Eduardo Escobar Jersey . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. Jon Duplantier Jersey . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Panthers coach Ron Rivera wants Cam Newton to receive the same protection on helmet-to-helmet hits as other quarterbacks get in the NFL.Rivera said because of the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Newtons size and the Panthers style of play, Newton often doesnt draw the flags on hard hits that smaller QBs do.Newton was on the receiving end of four helmet-to-helmet hits in Thursday nights physical 21-20 loss to Denver, but the Broncos were only penalized once.I think there is a little bit of prejudice to that, Rivera said of the lack of penalties. Its kind of like Shaquille ONeal. Hes a big physical basketball player and he goes to set a pick and they fall down and they call a foul on him. Then he goes to shoot a layup and gets hacked and hammered and they dont call it.Rivera even went as far as to say the leagues reigning MVP should receive some preferential treatment.The coach would like to see Newton, now in his sixth season, get some veteran favoritism from the leagues officials.Newton was tested four times for a concussion -- after the game in the locker room, on the bus, on the flight home and Friday morning at the stadium -- and all proved to be negative. He was never tested during the game.Newton is expected to practice when the Panthers return to the field on Wednesday, the coach said.Rivera said he will send video of some of the hits to the league.Some of them you would like to see them throw the flags, Rivera said without identifying which hits.The NFL doesnt disagree with Rivera. A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that league officials say linebacker Brandon Marshall should have been flagged for a second half hit on Newton.The person said Dean Blandino, the leagues senior vice president of officiating, and his staff reviewed the play and determined on Friday that Marshall shouldve been flagged for delivering a hit to Newtons head after the quarterback had released the football. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the NFL did not publicly comment on the details of its review.The NFL wont hand out any potential fines until next week after they review all Week 1 games.There were a couple of helmet-to-helmet hits on Newton by last years Super Bowl MVP Von Miller and defensive end Jared Crick. Millers facemask-to-facemask hit occurred while Newton was being sacked by DeMMarcus Ware.ddddddddddddThe biggest hit on Newton, however, was delivered by safety Darian Stewart on Carolinas final possession, leaving the QB motionless on the ground for several seconds. Newton stayed in and led the Panthers into field goal range, although Graham Gano missed a 50-yard attempt that would have given Carolina the lead.Stewart said after the game he felt like he led with his shoulder, not his head.The NFL released a statement Friday saying medical officials determined Newton didnt need to leave the game due to injury. It said there was communication between medical personnel on the Carolina sideline, including the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant, and the two independent certified athletic trainer spotters in the booth.The release also stated that during stoppage in action the play was reviewed and medical officials determined there were no indications of a concussion that would require further evaluation and the removal of the player from the game.Rivera didnt see a need to sit Newton after the hit.Im not going to question the doctors, OK? There is a protocol, Rivera said.The NFLPA said it is reviewing whether Newton should have been tested after the hit.Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said he didnt think there was that much contact with Newtons head during the game.I saw two plays where he left the pocket where there were big collisions, Kubiak said. There were a lot of big collisions in that game. I think we were playing hard. They were playing hard. They knocked the heck out of us, too, you know.Kubiak also doesnt feel his players were being dirty.Rivera knows officials have a difficult job to do, especially when it comes to a player like Newton who runs a lot.I think his style of play is different as far as quarterbacks are concerned, Rivera said. ... Its so hard to tell whether he is running or going to throw. So that makes it tough.Kubiak agreed.Hes the top player in football and theyre designed runs for him, Kubiak said. Youd better tackle him like a back, youd better treat him that way or youre going to have a long night as a defensive football team.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton in Denver contributed to this report. ' ' '