Los Angeles Clippers guard Paul George (13) battles his way to the hoop as Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes (40) puts the stop on George in first half action at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles on Sat Apr 9, 2022 (AP News photo)
By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, April 9, 2022
Paul George scored 23 points, dished out 12 assists, and pulled down eight rebounds for the Los Angeles Clippers Saturday night, leading the Clips past Sacramento 117-98.
It was the Clippers’ fourth straight win. Los Angeles will face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday in the NBA’s play-in tournament. If the Clippers win, they will reach the playoffs for the fourth straight year and meet the No 2-seed Memphis Grizzlies in the first round.
A loss to Minnesota would send the Clippers into a game against either New Orleans or San Antonio on Friday. The winner would face the overall top-seed Phoenix Suns.
George missed 43 games due to an elbow injury. Since his return, George is averaging 22.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists while the Clippers are 5-1 in that stretch.
The Clippers led from start to finish, as Norman Powell scored 20 points off the bench and Ivica Zubac added 15 points and 12 boards for LA.
Davion Mitchell led the Kings with 22 points, followed by Trey Lyules with 15. Damian Jones scored 12 points to go with four steals, and Neemias Queta added 10 points off the Sacramento bench.
The Clippers led by as many as 20 points in the first half before Sacramento used a run to pull within 59-45 at halftime. The Kings scored the first seven points of the third quarter to cut its deficit in half.
That was as close as Sacramento would get, as Los Angeles used a 19-5 run over the last five minutes of the third quarter to take a 92-71 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Kings travel to Phoenix on Sunday.
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