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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – Paul George scored 32 points, Kawhi Leonard added 23 along with a great late block and the dynamic duo helped the Los Angeles Clippers rally in the fourth quarter for a 113-107 win over the Denver Nuggets in the third. game of their Western Conference semifinal series on Monday night (Tuesday Manila time).
Leonard did a bit of everything while grabbing 14 rebounds and dishing out six assists. He also had two blocks, one of them late on a Jamal Murray shot to the basket.
Los Angeles takes a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game four is on Wednesday.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers called a timeout to calm the Clippers with 8:29 left and trailing 97-90. Driven by the defense, Los Angeles went 14-4 to take a 104-101 lead. The Cilppers would not follow again.
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Lou Williams sealed the win with a layup that extended the lead to six with 2:04 to play. George turned into a torrid shooting night. He finished 12 of 18 ground shots, including five triples.
Nikola Jokic had 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists for Denver despite a sore right wrist that had him questioned before the game.
The All-Star center had the pass of the night in the third quarter, when he grabbed a rebound, spun quickly and sent a perfect shot from the entire court to Jerami Grant for a dunk.
Jokic proved to be a help to the Clippers with JaMychal Green, Ivica Zubac and Montrezl Harrell committing early fouls trying to cover him. Zubac fouled with 4:07 remaining.
Rookie backup Michael Porter Jr. finished with 18 points for the Nuggets, while Murray was limited to 14 on 5-of-17 shooting.
Denver was advancing in the second quarter, leading by 12 points with 3:34 left before halftime, before the Clippers responded strongly. They closed the half on a 12-2 streak to make it 59-57 at the break.
TIP-INS
Clippers: Clippers G Patrick Beverley was fined $ 25,000 by the league Monday for verbally abusing a game official in Game 2. … F Marcus Morris had 12 points.
Nuggets: Denver outscored the Clippers by a 58-42 margin in points in the paint. … Grant and Paul Millsap each had 11 points.
THE ROLE OF THE DOG
Nuggets coach Michael Malone plays with the “Us vs. the World” motivation card. He felt like his team was canceled against Utah after falling behind 3-1 in the series. He thought many believed the Nuggets would be swept after losing Game 1 unevenly before rallying to take Game 2.
“Nobody gives this team the opportunity to do a lot of things,” Malone said. “We don’t really care what anyone thinks of us, especially outside of Colorado. It’s the belief we have in the locker room. It’s been there since day one.”
MINUTE RESTRICTION
For now, Beverley remains on a minute restriction as he recovers from a left calf strain. He played a little over 12 minutes in Game 1 and 15 minutes in Game 2. He was on the court for more than 20 minutes in Game 3.
“I think in every game, hopefully, there will be a rebound,” Rivers said. “It’s better than not having it.”
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