George, Harden lead Clippers to road win over Trail Blazers
PORTLAND, ORE. » Paul George scored 27 points, James Harden had 19 points and 14 assists and the Clippers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 116-103 on Wednesday night.
The victory gave the Clippers a one-game lead over the New Orleans Pelicans for the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff picture.
Scoot Henderson had 18 points and five assists for Portland and fellow rookie Kris Murray had a season-high 17 points.
The teams meet again Friday night in Portland to complete a two-game set.
The Clippers used a 34-point third quarter, which included 17 of Kawhi Leonard's 24 points, to put the game out of reach.
After leading 60-50 at halftime, the Clippers took things into overdrive. Portland cut the Clippers' lead to eight multiple times early in the third quarter before the Clippers pushed the lead to 72-58, forcing a Blazers timeout.
Portland turned the ball over after the timeout on back-to-back possessions, including a 3-point play from Leonard, pushing the lead to 77-58.
Amir Coffey's 3-pointer pushed the lead to 84-60, forcing another Portland timeout.
The Clippers, whose largest lead was 27, outscored the Trail Blazers 34-20 in the third quarter.
THE SCORE CLIPPERS 116, TRAIL BLAZERS 103 Clippers at Trail Blazers, Friday, 7p.m., BSSC
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The Clippers' Paul George drives toward Portland's Toumani Camara during the second half of Wednesday's game.
The Clippers jumped out to a 47-35 lead midway through the second quarter. Harden hit back-to-back 3-pointers to force a Blazers timeout with 6:04 left in the half.