George scores 32, Clips rally late to beat Thunder
LOS ANGELES — Paul George scored 32 points, Reggie Jackson added 15 and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied from a nine-point deficit late in the fourth quarter to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 99-94 on Monday night.
The Clippers trailed 91-82 after Josh Giddey’s jumper with 2:44 remaining before closing on a 16-3 run to improve to 2-4. George, who also had nine rebounds and seven assists, scored eight points during the surge, including a 10-footer with 1:08 left to give Los Angeles a 9392 lead, its first since early in the first quarter.
Luke Kennard, who scored all 14 of his points in the second half, had five points during the decisive spurt. Los Angeles was 3 of 21 from 3-point range in the first half but went 12 for 21 in the final 24 minutes.
Nicolas Batum also scored 14 for the Clippers, including four 3-pointers. Los Angeles was outrebounded by at least 20 in losses to Cleveland and Portland, but broke even against the Thunder as both teams had 51 boards.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 28 points, including 15 in the third quarter for Oklahoma City (1-6), which led by 16 in the second. Darius Bazley and Giddey had 15 apiece.
TIP-INS
Thunder: G Lu Dort missed the game due to a shoulder injury sustained Saturday at Golden State . ... F Gabriel Deck was also out of the lineup due to a bruised left heel. ... Aleksej Pokusevski had nine points and an assist in the second quarter.
Clippers: Los Angeles pulled down a season-high 50 rebounds, including 12 from Isaiah Hartenstein. It is the third-year center’s eighth career game with 13 or more boards.
UP NEXT
Thunder: Remain in Los Angeles to face the Lakers on Thursday.
Clippers: Visit Minnesota on Wednesday for the first of back-to-back games against the Timberwolves.