George, Leonard lead way as Clippers end 2-game skid
Whether he was burying his shots or moving the ball, Paul George seemed to make all the right decisions. The Clippers will sure take more of that.
George made six 3-pointers and scored 28 points, Kawhi Leonard added 27 and Los Angeles beat the Chicago Bulls, 126-111, on Thursday night.
The Clippers regrouped after a 20-point lead late in the third quarter dwindled to eight in the fourth quarter and stopped a twogame skid, beating Chicago for the second time in six days. Both teams were missing key players with the Clippers’ James Harden (strained left shoulder) and the Bulls’ Coby White (sore right hip) sidelined. But with George and Leonard leading the way, the Clippers had enough to come away with the win.
“We talk about the last 20 games, putting the ball back in PG’s hands so he can get used to it so when we get to the playoffs we know exactly what we want to do,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “Now, he’s just getting accustomed to running more pick-and-rolls and keeping the ball in his hands.”
George made 11 of 12 from the field and was one shy of a season high in making 6 of 7 3’s. The Clippers
CHICAGO »
The Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard (2) drives to the basket against a trio of Bulls defenders during his 27-point effort Thursday at Chicago.
THE SCORE
CLIPPERS 126, BULLS 111
Up next: Clippers at Pelicans, today, 5p.m. BSSC
were 20 of 40 from beyond the arc.
George also had seven assists and just one turnover, with the Bulls double-teaming him and Leonard.
“It was just staying under control, playing through our teammates
and I think just taking what they gave us,” he said. “I didn’t think we were out of the norm, we weren’t out of character, we kind of just played our style, slowed the game down for ourselves and took the shots that were available.”
Leonard, who exited Tuesday’s loss to Minnesota because of back spasms, made 12 of 17 shots. He said he thought he got elbowed in the game against the Bulls and irritated it the next day in the loss to Milwaukee.
Norman Powell scored 18 points. Bones Hyland added 17 points and a career-high 11 assists while matching a personal best with four steals for the Clippers, who are fourth in the Western Conference.
DeMar DeRozan led Chicago with 21 points after scoring a season-high 46 in Wednesday’s overtime win at Indiana. The Bulls have lost three of four.
Nikola Vucevic scored 19 for Chicago. Alex Caruso made five 3s and finished with 17 points after scoring a season-high 23 the previous night, and Andre Drummond scored 15.
The Clippers led 90-70 after Terance Mann’s fast-break layup with about 4:30 left in the third quarter. But the Bulls weren’t finished.
DeRozan cut it to 98-90 early in the fourth with a finger-roll and 3-pointer. It was a nine-point game midway through the quarter when Hyland made a 3 and Ivica Zubac tipped in a missed 3 by Leonard, and the Clippers remained in control from there.
The Bulls, were breathing a little easier after imaging showed White was not seriously injured, coach Billy Donovan said. He is day to day after Pascal Siakam blocked his layup and landed on him near the end of regulation at Indiana on Wednesday.
BOX SCORE
Clippers
George Leonard Zubac Hyland Mann Powell Coffey Theis Boston Jr. Moon Plumlee 35:22 11-12 33:53 12-17 31:30 2-3 31:37 6-9 30:32 4-13 27:58 6-10 21:59 3-8 14:03 2-4 8:12 2-3 2:27 0-0 2:27 0-1
Totals 240:00 48-80 10-14 6-35 32 16 126
Percentages: Goals:
FG .600, FT .714;
20-40, .500 (George 6-7, Hyland 4-7, Coffey 3-6, Powell 3-6, Leonard 2-5, Mann 2-7, Boston Jr. 0-1, Theis 0-1);
5. Team Turnovers: 1; 2 (George, Leonard);
9 (Leonard 3, Powell 2, Zubac 2, George, Hyland); 9 (Hyland 4, Coffey, George, Leonard, Mann, Powell);
None
Rebounds: Shots:
Steals:
Fouls:
Clippers Chicago
Chicago
Craig 27:01 DeRozan 35:42 Vucevic 35:22 Caruso 35:48 Dosunmu 34:51 Carter 17:27 Bitim 16:55 Drummond 16:18 Terry 13:25 Drell 2:53 Taylor 2:53 Funk 1:25
Totals 240:00 41-86 13-16 11-36 28 14 111
Percentages: Goals: 37 27 28 34 — 126 26 27 27 31 — 111
FT Reb A PF Pts
FG .477, FT .813;
16-35, .457 (Caruso 5-8, Craig 4-7, Carter 2-3, Vucevic 2-4, DeRozan 2-5, Dosunmu 1-5, Bitim 0-1, Drell 0-1, Terry 0-1); 8. Team Turnovers: None; 2 (Carter, Drummond); 13 (DeRozan 5, Caruso 3, Dosunmu 3, Carter, Vucevic); 4 (Caruso 3, Carter);
None
21,219 (20,917);
Team Rebounds: Blocked Shots: Turnovers:
Steals: Fouls: A:
Min
Min
FG FT Reb A PF Pts
FG
4-8 6-16 8-14 5-13 2-11 5-7 1-2 7-8 2-4 1-2 0-1 0-0
T:
0-0 1-2 2-2 1-2 2-2 3-4 0-0 0-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-2 7-8 1-1 2-2 2-2 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
2:00 0-5 7 2-5 3 2-8 2 0-5 11 0-4 2 0-2 2 0-3 1 2-2 3 0-1 0 0-0 0 0-0 1
3-Point
Team Blocked Turnovers:
0-6 1-5 3-6 0-3 2-4 1-3 0-0 3-7 0-1 1-1 0-0 0-0
Technical
1 4 5 6 4 2 2 1 0 2 1 0 4 28 0 27 1 6 2 17 2 12 3 18 1 9 2 4 1 5 0 0 0 0 1 12 2 21 2 19 2 17 2 7 2 12 1 2 2 15 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 0