George lifts Clippers to NBA victory over Warriors / Photo: Meg Oliphant - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
George lifts Clippers to NBA victory over Warriors
Paul George drilled the game-winning three-pointer as the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers rallied from a 22-point third-quarter deficit to stun the Golden State Warriors 113-112 on Saturday.
George finished with a game-high 25 points. Eleven of those came in the fourth quarter, when he finally put the Clippers in the lead, for the first time in the game, with 9.9 seconds remaining, connecting from beyond the arc over a helpless Klay Thompson.
"It felt good as soon as I released it," said George, who added six rebounds and six assists. "I got a good look at the basket, thank God it went in."
The Warriors had a final chance, but Draymond Green missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer.
The game was the first of an NBA double-header at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, where the Lakers hosted the Houston Rockets later.
George said the comeback was especially meaningful against the Warriors' potentially potent offense.
"This is a great comeback, especially against this team," he said. "They can put points up so quick. The fact we were able to come back, it just shows a lot -- this group is ready to fight and play all the way until the end."
James Harden added 21 points and Kawhi Leonard chipped in 20 for the Clippers, who withstood 17 three-pointers from the Warriors.
Stephen Curry scored 22 points and handed out 11 assists for Golden State. Green scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Moses Moody contributed 21 points for the Warriors, who were without injured Chris Paul.
Trailing by 22 early in the third quarter, the Clippers closed within two but were down by seven going into the fourth.
Thompson's three-pointer pushed the Warriors' lead back to 10, but the Clippers had twice whittled it to one point and trailed 112-110 after Leonard's reverse layup with 35.5 seconds to go.
Clippers guard Russell Westbrook grabbed the rebound of a Curry miss to set the stage for George's heroics.
In other early action, the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled off a nail-biting 123-117 victory over the Hornets in Charlotte.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 28 points, 10 of them in a fourth quarter that featured six lead changes. Rudy Gobert added 26 points and 12 rebounds for Minnesota, whose 15-4 record is tied with the Boston Celtics for best in the league.
R.Sutherland--EWJ
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