Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points and Paul George added 24 as the visiting Los Angeles Clippers used a huge third-quarter surge to put away the struggling San Antonio Spurs 109-102 on Wednesday in the second of two games between the teams in three nights.
The Clippers have now won three straight games after losing six in a row. San Antonio has dropped 10 in a row and hasn’t won since Nov. 2.
Los Angeles was ahead by six points at halftime but was up just 64-62 four and a half minutes into the third quarter. The Clippers then put their stamp on the game with an 18-2 run behind six points each from Leonard and James Harden and carried a 12-point advantage into the fourth period.
The Spurs swung back, closing to within 103-98 on Devin Vassell’s 3-pointer with 56 seconds remaining. George then canned a pair of free throws for Los Angeles and the Spurs would get no closer.
Harden finished with 16 points, with Ivica Zubac adding 12 and Daniel Theis grabbing 11 rebounds for Los Angeles.
Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs with 22 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Jeremy Sochan added 19, Vassell had 18 points, Zach Collins scored 16 and Keldon Johnson hit for 15 points for San Antonio.
The Clippers burst away from an 8-8 tie at the 7:19 mark of the opening quarter with an 8-0 run on a jumper by Harden and 3-pointers from Leonard and George. San Antonio got its deficit down to four points before Los Angeles finished the period with another 8-0 run and took a 26-14 lead after 12 minutes of play.
Los Angeles was up by 17 points after a pair of George free throws with 6:48 to play in the second quarter. But the Spurs rallied, using a 9-0 run capped by a dunk by Wembanyama to pull to within 51-48 with 1:20 remaining. Three Harden free throws over the final minute allowed the Clippers to take a 54-48 advantage to the break.
George scored 16 points before halftime to lead all scorers as the Clippers outshot San Antonio 48.6 percent to 34.1 percent over the first two quarters. Wembanyama had 10 points to pace the Spurs.
–Field Level Media
