Paul George caps Clippers’ comeback to stun Warriors

LOS ANGELES — The game didn’t exactly mirror the Clippers’ previous loss to the Golden State Warriors, but it followed a familiar story line.

For the second game in a row, the Clippers found themselves in a deep hole, worked to overcome defensive shortcomings to come within single digits and then fell back into bad habits.

Only this time, the Clippers showed more energy and came up with two big baskets in the final 35 seconds, overcoming a 19-point halftime deficit to beat the Warriors 113-112 on Saturday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena.

Paul George connected on a 26-foot shot with 8.9 seconds left, which came after Kawhi Leonard scored off an assist from George to pull the Clippers within 112-110 with 35 seconds left.

George and Leonard each scored 20 points. Leonard had eight rebounds and seven assists, while George had six rebounds and six assists.

Stephen Curry (22 points), Draymond Green (21 points, nine rebounds) and Moses Moody (21 points) led the Warriors (9-11).

The Clippers (9-10) knew what to expect Saturday, having played and lost to the Warriors on Thursday at Chase Center.

“We know what they’re going to do and so we just got to be ready to take those things away,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said before the game, pointing to the Warriors ability to rebound, shoot 3-pointers and be dominant when the Clippers go with smaller lineups.

The Clippers initially tried to outshoot the Warriors (9-11) from behind the 3-point line but abandoned the move after the Warriors shot 54.5% (12 of 22) from deep in the first half. While the Warriors continued to fire away, the Clippers focused on driving inside.

The switch inside and a more aggressive defense allowed the Clippers to slowly trim the lead to 98-95 with 7:30 remaining and stay close down the stretch. The Clippers had a chance to take the lead, but 3-point attempts by Terance Mann and Russell Westbrook were short.

The Clippers, playing with a noticeable uptick in their attack, shot 33.9% from beyond 3-point range.

The Clippers, who trailed by as many as 22 points, came within seven on a 13-2 run in the third. They might have cut the lead further, but the Clippers turned the ball three times after Lue called a timeout at the 7:20 mark.

The Clippers didn’t fold, though, and came within 87-85 with 41 seconds left in the third before Klay Thompson scored on back-to-back baskets in the final 30 seconds to push the Warriors ahead by seven going into the final quarter.

Thompson’s mini-scoring burst was reminiscent of Thursday’s game when he scored 10 consecutive points to key the Warriors’ victory. He finished 17 points.

Lue ran out of answers quickly against the Warriors’ frenetic pace. He tried nine players, including rookie Kobe Brown, in the first 12 minutes and still trailed by 11 points by the end of the first quarter. Overall, Lue threw eight different lineups at Golden State and still came up trailing 67-48 at the half.

After trailing by as many as 15, the Clippers went on a 16-0 run, capped by a tip-in by Daniel Theis, to trim the lead to 55-46. But then Curry got going, scoring 10 of 12 points – including two crushing 3-pointers – in the final two minutes of the half to extend the Warriors’ lead.

Adding to the Clippers’ early concerns was foul trouble. George and Zubac each picked up three before halftime, handcuffing the Clippers from making any significant in-roads in slowing the Warriors.

Like Thursday’s game, the Warriors were without Chris Paul (leg), Gary Payton II (calf) and Andrew Wiggins (finger). Wiggins, who was a game-time decision, is averaging 12.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists, while shooting 43.3% from the field.