INDIANAPOLIS, Dec 10 — Paul George made seven 3-pointers to highlight a 36-point performance against his former team as the Los Angeles Clippers posted a 110-99 victory over the Indiana Pacers yesterday in Indianapolis.
George was booed by the crowd in his third game back at Bankers Life Fieldhouse after requesting a trade from Indiana, with which he spent his first seven NBA seasons. George was sent to Oklahoma City in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis in July 2017 before the Thunder traded him to the Clippers in the latest offseason.
Montrezl Harrell had 26 points and eight rebounds for the Clippers, who played without Kawhi Leonard (left knee soreness). Leonard sat out the latter half of a back-to-back set with a Wednesday showdown looming against his former team in Toronto, marking his first return to the city since he led the Raptors to the NBA title in June.
Ivica Zubac added 13 points and eight rebounds for Los Angeles, which improved to 11-2 in its past 13 games.
Indiana’s Malcolm Brogdon scored a team-high 20 points in his return from a one-game absence caused by a dislocated finger on his right hand.
Sabonis collected 18 points and 22 rebounds for his 19th double-double in the first 22 contests of the season for the Pacers, who have lost two of their last three games after winning seven of their previous eight.
Jeremy Lamb’s 3-pointer trimmed Los Angeles’ lead to 46-45 with 2:25 remaining in the second before George heated up just before half. George sank three consecutive free throws and drained back-to-back 3-pointers to ignite a 14-3 surge.
George remained hot to in the third quarter, sandwiching 3-pointers around an off-balance layup over Myles Turner in a 78-second span to give the Clippers their largest lead at 84-65.
Harrell worked the interior with a pair of layups before draining a pullup jumper as Los Angeles extended its advantage to 24 points.
Doug McDermott sank a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and Brogdon added one of his own as Indiana trimmed its deficit to 103-93 with 3:43 remaining.
Sabonis worked the interior and TJ Warren made a floating jumper to get the Pacers within seven with 1:46 left before the hosts ran out of steam. — Reuters
