Clippers win
George leads the way with 36 points in L.A.’s 126-115 victory over the Pacers at Indiana.
No two games are the same; no picture is perfect; not every night will net a win — that much Tyronn Lue is sure of.
But the Clippers’ coach is certain of something else, too, he said. If his team practices those “right habits” he’s keen to preach about, they should be in good shape.
Especially when it’s Paul George’s 30-plus-point habit.
On Tuesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, George gave the Clippers a boost by torching his first NBA team — as is his personal tradition — with 36 points in a 126-115 victory over the Pacers. It was George’s fourth consecutive game scoring at least 30 points, which equals the secondlongest such streak of his career.
Kawhi Leonard watched from the bench for the second consecutive game (he has a sore right foot) as Tuesday’s frenetic game
THE SCORE
CLIPPERS 126, PACERS 115
Up next: Clippers at Pistons, today, 5 p.m., BSW
went back and forth until the fourth quarter, when the Clippers went for the jugular.
They shut down the Pacers to win the final period 26-18, holding the hosts to 30.4% shooting (7 for 23) over those last 12 minutes.
George led the way against the team with which he played his first seven seasons. It seems he’s still at home in Indiana, entering Tuesday averaging 24.2 points per game against the Pacers, more than against any other team in the league.
That average will only go up after his latest performance, in which he had 23 points by halftime and finished 13 for 25 from the field.
It was another indication that George, a seventime All-Star who the NBA named the most recent Western Conference Player of the Week, has been able to effectively manage the swelling in a toe in his right foot — as well as the anxiety such an injury can cause.
“The injury allowed me to kind of make an excuse for myself,” George said. “But then, when I put it in perspective, if I’ma play, then why not just give it my all and put that to the side? So that was the mindset I came in with — just to play through it. If I’m gon’ play, then, you know, don’t let it limit me. And, again, it’s just been paying off. I feel like I’ve had a break through because of that mindset and I’ve been good.”
George supplemented his own scoring with a gamehigh eight assists — including a pair of fourth-quarter beauties to an airborne Terance Mann, who authoritatively slammed home both lob passes.
As a team, the Clippers — who won their sixth consecutive game to improve to 38-18 — eclipsed 30 assists for the third consecutive game, recording 34, one shy of the season-high of 35 they logged in Sunday’s victory over Detroit, whom they’ll face again Wednesday at Little Caesars Arena.
No Clippers team had strung together three games with 30 or more assists since December 2014. Good habits, see?
“This has been the first team I felt as though guys are looking to get the best shot each time down the court,” said Marcus Morris Sr., who had 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting. “But ... I’ve never been on a team with this many veterans. So I think guys just playing the game for so long, we all know how to play the right way.”
In all, L.A. had six players on the receiving end of all those assists finish in double figures, including Ivica Zubac who had 14 points on a 7-for-8 effort. Mann went 5 for 9 and added 12 points and Luke Kennard finished with 10.