Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points and Paul George had 19, leading the Los Angeles Clippers to a come-from-behind, 108-105 win over the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. Leonard, who also had seven assists and six rebounds, had scored at least 30 points in each of his previous nine contests. George finished with game-highs in rebounds (12) and assists (8).
Montrezl Harrell added 14 points, and Lou Williams and Patrick Beverley contributed 12 points each. LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 27 points and nine rebounds while DeMar DeRozan had 26 points. Patty Mills had 18 points off the bench, and Trey Lyles scored 10 for San Antonio, which led by 15 points in the second quarter.
Spurs fail to convert
A 3-pointer by Beverley knotted the score at 102 before a dunk by Leonard gave the Clippers the lead for good with 1:35 remaining. After the Spurs failed to convert on consecutive possessions, George nailed a 3-pointer for a 106-102 edge with 13.7 seconds remaining.
Mills' trey pulled San Antonio within one with 2.8 seconds left, but two free throws by Williams with 1.3 seconds left clinched the victory for Los Angeles, winner of eight of its last 10. Derrick White's half-court heave at the buzzer wasn't close.
A 14-2 run to open the third quarter allowed the Clippers to grab a 68-65 lead with 7:10 remaining. The Spurs didn't make their first field goal of the second half until DeRozan sank a driving layup with 5:40 remaining in the third.
DeRozan elbows George
However, San Antonio was able to stay close, exchanging leads for much of the rest of the quarter before Los Angeles seized an 85-82 advantage heading into the fourth. The Clippers outscored the Spurs 31-19 in the third.
The Clippers got a scare when George was hurt hit in the face by a DeRozan elbow with 6:02 left in the third quarter. Although the elbow appeared inadvertent, DeRozan was issued a flagrant-1 foul after the play. The Spurs took a 63-54 edge into halftime behind 21 points by DeRozan.
