LOS ANGELES — Paul George leads a second half rally for Clippers to top the Pistons, 112-106
After a poor performance vs the Pelicans, Paul George responded tremendously against Detroit. George scored 33 points and grabbed 5 rebounds on 14-24 shooting from the field.
“They were ready to come out, we had to make adjustments” Paul George said “playing small ball helped us with creating energy and that was the turning point.”
The Clippers came out flat in the second quarter as Detroit was able to take an early lead. At halftime the Pistons were ahead 58-49 but the Clippers would flip the script in the second half.
In the 4th quarter the Clippers resorted to a smaller lineup and relied on Amir Coffey to deliver some valuable production. Coffey scored 10 of his 12 points to help the Clippers rally.
The Clippers were finally able to overcome the double digit deficit by getting to the free throw line. As 12 of their 36 point 4th quarter were points Clippers received from free throws.
Los Angeles as they appeared way more often at the line. The Clippers made 25 of 26 free throws while the Pistons only made 7 free throws on the night.
Although the Pistons lost, Detroit saw three 20+ scorers in Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Simone Fontecchio.
After the comeback victory, the Clippers are now sitting at the second seed in the west with a 35-16 record.
On Monday, The Clippers will host the Timberwolves (36-16) in Los Angeles to battle for the first seed. All the stakes are on this game for the Clippers to be on top of the Western Conference.