Paul George scores 20 as Clippers extend winning streak to 4

LOS ANGELES — Two teams trending successful other directions crossed paths Sunday astatine Staples Center, mixed it up and past continued connected their abstracted ways.

Thank a monstrous late-fourth-quarter surge for Sunday’s runaway 120-106 victory, which gave the Clippers their 4th consecutive triumph portion Charlotte Hornets mislaid their 4th successful a row.

L.A. was down 99-91 with 7:33 to play erstwhile Tyronn Lue took a timeout. Then they did it again: One crippled aft turning a 20-point shortage into a 20-point victory, the Clippers flipped the publication again — taking disconnected connected a 22-0 tally en way to outscoring Charlotte 29-7 down the stretch.

“Ever since past year, we made a batch of bully comebacks and we cognize it’s ne'er over,” said Clippers halfway Ivica Zubac, who played 10 minutes successful the 4th quarter, pulling down six of his 11 rebounds and 4 of his 14 points successful the last period.

“But astatine the aforesaid clip we gotta beryllium amended starting the games due to the fact that going down 15, 20 is hard, it takes a batch of vigor and we don’t privation to effort to get retired of the spread each game,” added Zubac, grinning aft notching his 2nd consecutive productive outing. “We got immoderate country to amended determination and erstwhile we bash that it’s gonna beryllium a small easier to triumph games.”

Clippers Coach Tyronn Lue credited his team’s timely, stubborn defending for the last turnabout.

“It was our defense, our defence truly picked up,” Lue said. “Our physicality, our attraction to item was a batch better, I thought our absorption successful the archetypal … was beauteous bad, we made a batch of mistakes and a batch of crippled program mistakes, but I thought successful that 4th quarter, we did a bully occupation of locking into what we wanted to do.”

The NBA’s highest scoring, astir porous squad — coming in, Charlotte ranked archetypal successful some points scored (114.2) and points allowed (117.4) — dumped 39 points connected their hosts and built a short-lived 13-point pb successful the archetypal quarter.

But the Clippers chased them down, slowed them down and took backmost the pb with 6:51 to play successful the 2nd 4th connected a stepback jumper from Paul George (20 points connected 9-for-22 shooting) that enactment L.A. up 45-44 pb with 6:51 to play successful the 2nd quarter.

The teams played blistery murphy with the pb — the crippled featured 19 pb changes — until Charlotte utilized a 12-2 tally to instrumentality a 99-91 pb and unit a Clippers timeout.

The Clippers’ retort: a 13-3 spurt (to which Reggie Jackson contributed 8 points) to yank backmost the lead, 104-102.

Then Terance Mann (17 points) went gliding done the lane for a grown-man jam with 4:35 near that padded the vantage and energized an already engaged assemblage of 15,781.

No 1 scored again until George’s jumper with 2:34 near connected the timepiece made it 108-102. A brace of 3 throws from Jackson (19 points) and different jumper from George pushed the vantage to treble digits, 112-102, with 1:39 near connected the clock.

And past Luke Kennard (18 points) deed the 3-pointer that sent folks streaming to the exits, the Clippers suddenly, comfortably up by 13. Those who stayed saw Kennard his different 3-pointer — his sixth — moments aboriginal to propulsion the pb to 118-104.

Chino Hills’ LaMelo Ball returned to Southern California having claimed past season’s Rookie of the Year mantle.

The past clip Ball and the Hornets met the Clippers successful L.A. connected March 20, the then-rookie sensation suffered a fractured close wrist that sidelined him for the remainder of the season. This clip helium finished with 21 points and 7 assists; helium had 17 points and 3 fouls successful 14 minutes earlier halftime.

Serge Ibaka made his play debut for the Clippers aft recovering from backmost country successful June. He played 8 minutes, went 0 for 3, had a rebound, an assistance and a block.

“I privation to convey Coach for giving maine a mates minutes tonight,” Ibaka said. “It was a spot rough, but helium enactment maine backmost again truthful I’m gonna working, I ever do, and it’s gonna come.”

George finished with 20 points, successful the process eclipsing 14,500 vocation points and joining LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul successful an exclusive nine of progressive players who person astatine slightest 14,500 points, 4,500 rebounds and 2,500 assists.

The Clippers’ prima changeable 9 for 22 though conscionable 2 for 10 from deep, and helium besides recorded 9 rebounds, 8 assists. He besides had 8 of the Clippers’ 20 turnovers — which Charlotte converted into 30 points.

That’s been a inclination successful the Clippers’ past 3 games — successful their 2 wins successful Minnesota, they gave it distant a combined 38 times and the Timberwolves scored 52 points disconnected of those turnovers.

Against his erstwhile team, Nicolas Batum gave the Clippers 16 points connected 6-for-11 shooting, including hitting 4 of his 9 3-point attempts.

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