George spurs Clippers' late charge in victory over Pistons
Staff, wire service reports
Paul George scored 33 points, Kawhi Leonard added 24 and the Clippers rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Detroit Pistons 112-106 on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
The Clippers opened the game on a 12-2 run before the Pistons tied it up and outplayed the home team for the next two quarters.
George scored 15 points in the fourth, hitting back-toback 3-pointers that capped an 11-0 run and pushed the Clippers’ lead to 107-94.
Simone Fontecchio and Cade Cunningham combined to score eight in a row that drew the Pistons within seven with less than 2 minutes to go. It was part of the Pistons’ closing 12-5 run, but it wasn’t enough as the team dropped its 10th in a row to the Clippers.
The Clippers got a spark off the bench from Amir Coffey in the fourth when he hit two 3-pointers. James Harden, who finished with 14 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds, made three consecutive free throws to give the Clippers their first lead since early in the second.
■ Spencer Dinwiddie plans to sign with his hometown Lakers, multiple sources reported.
The point guard was traded by the Brooklyn Nets to Toronto on Thursday and then was waived. He will become a free agent and is eligible to sign a new contract once he clears waivers.
He made up his mind before then, reports say. Dinwiddie’s plans were first reported by The Athletic.
Dinwiddie started 48 games this season for the Nets, averaging 12.6 points and 6 assists. He had returned for his second stint in Brooklyn just before last year’s trade deadline, coming from Dallas as part of the package for Kyrie Irving.
The Mavericks were also believed to be interested in a reunion with Dinwiddie, who attended their game against the Knicks in New York on Thursday night.
But Dinwiddie, 30, instead is heading to the city where he was born and graduated from Taft High School. The Lakers weren’t able to upgrade their roster with any trades before Thursday’s deadline but will score quickly in the buyout market. He figures to back up D’angelo Russell, a former teammate in Brooklyn.
■ Russell scored 30 points, Austin Reaves added 27 and the Lakers rode a spectacular 87-point first half to a 139-122 victory over New Orleans late on Friday night.
Lebron James had 21 points and 14 assists, and Rui Hachimura scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half as the Lakers put on an offensive masterclass in their fourth win in five games. Anthony Davis added 20 points as the Lakers dominated on the second night of a back-to-back set.
The Lakers led 87-74 at halftime after tying a franchise record with 51 points in the second quarter. It was their most prolific half of the season and the second highest-scoring first half in franchise history.
Zion Williamson had 30 points and nine rebounds, and Brandon Ingram added 22 points for the Pelicans, whose four-game winning streak ended. New Orleans split two games in downtown Los Angeles to begin its four-game road trip.
Nick Taylor and Andrew Novak are tied for second. Taylor tied the course record with an 11-under 60 in the first round and shot 70 in the second. Novak shot 65 in each round.
It’s been a soggy tournament in the desert — though the weather is expected improve for the final two rounds. A long weather delay on Thursday left half the field needing to finish their first rounds on Friday and a 90-minute frost delay on Friday pushed tee times back even more.
That moved much of the second round into Saturday. The third round was to begin later Saturday.
Maverick Mcnealy is three shots back at 10 under after shooting 67. Doug Ghin is at 9 under.
Scottie Scheffler — eyeing his third straight Phoenix Open win — shot 66 and was four shots back at 8 under. He’s trying for the first three-peat on the PGA Tour in 13 years.
Theegala, 26, shot up the leaderboard on the back nine with birdies on Nos. 11, 13, 14, 15 and 17. The three-time All-american at Pepperdine earned his first PGA Tour win last year at the Fortinet Championship.