Paul George and the Clippers went out and pulled a Lakers in Game 5 against the Mavs

Paul George was back to being Paul George in Game 4.

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The Los Angeles Clippers apparently saw what the Los Angeles Lakers did on Monday night and decided to go out Tuesday night against the Mavs and do the exact same darn thing.

It worked out pretty well, too, as the Clippers scored 76 points in the first half, took a 24-point lead into the break and then never looked back while winning Game 4 154-111 and taking a 3-2 lead in the series.

Back-to-back nights of blowout wins for teams from Los Angeles now have the two best teams in the West looking primed once again for a meeting in a few weeks that will have a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.

For the Mavs, Tuesday night was a total bummer as it came just 48 hours after Luka Doncic’s historic game that ended with his buzzer-beatting game-winner against the Clippers. It looked like Dallas could carry that momentum and steal this series, but with Tuesday’s blowout loss that opportunity became a lot harder.

For the Clippers, they finally got to see Paul George doing Paul George things in a playoff game. George, who has struggled mightily in this series, was a force from the get-go Tuesday night, scoring 18 points in the first half before finishing with a game-high 35.

The Clippers are back.

The Mavs are on the brink of being eliminated.

And the city of Los Angeles is looking pretty good right now.

Quick hits: Nike’s awful mistake on Mamba Day… Messi leaves Barcelona… Fantasy football advice… and more!

– Mike Sykes explains how Nike should be embarrassed with its huge mistake on Mamba Day.

– Lionel Messi let Barcelona know on Tuesday that he wouldn’t be returning to the team and the soccer world freaked the heck out.

– Nick Schwartz looks at 25 RBs and WRs that you shouldn’t reach for in fantasy drafts based on their name alone.

– A meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer by the Nuggets won a bettor a cool $100K.

– Chris Webber continues to be the worst announcer in the NBA playoffs.