During the Saturday night NBA slate, the Los Angeles Clippers beat the New York Knicks 134-128 in overtime. Kawhi Leonard led with 35 points, but Paul George was just a little behind with 30 points. The Clips have now won seven of their last nine games.
The Clippers led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter, but ended up nearly losing. The Knicks scored 10 unanswered points to take a 115-112 lead with 18.2 seconds left to play, capped off by a Jalen Brunson drive and finish. Nicolas Batum’s 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer tied it at 115 to force overtime.
“I wish we could finish the game in the fourth quarter by making some shots to put teams away,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “But, big shot by Nico. Gutsy win by us. Nico makes the big shot and we controlled the overtime.”
The Clippers gained a four-point lead in overtime and never lost it. Leonard made all eight of his free throws in overtime and was 12 for 12 from the line on the night.
“We got to do better,” Leonard said. “Second night in a row we had big leads against these good team and they’re coming back. They have fight in them and we have to be able to close them out.”
NBA NEWS & SCORES: Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, LA Clippers & New York Knicks Updates
As for the Clippers, Norman Powell scored 24 points, while Marcus Morris Sr. chipped in 17. In his return to the game after missing one because of a non-COVID illness, Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 41 points. A total of 28 points were scored by Julius Randle.
With 7:18 left in the game, Powell’s jumper gave Los Angeles a 17-point lead to begin the fourth quarter, and the Clippers led 106-94. Overall, Brunson finished a 21-6 run with 18 seconds left with a layup, capping a 21-6 run sparked by Quentin Grimes’ 3-pointer with 52 seconds left.
After an offensive rebound from Ivica Zubac created by a missed Paul George 3-pointer, Batum made a 3-pointer at the buzzer using the second chance scoring opportunity.
NBA NEWS & SCORES: Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, LA Clippers & New York Knicks Updates
“As a team, if we didn’t start the way we played and played Knicks basketball, we wouldn’t have been be in that position,” Brunson said. “I am proud of how we fought. I am not really too worried about anything. The biggest thing to take away from this game was that my teammates fought. We will move on from that.”
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