Paul George #13 of the LA Clippers (Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images/AFP)
LOS ANGELES – Paul George bounced back from a subpar contest and used it for motivation as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday to avoid what would have been a season-first in back-to-back losses.
George drained a season-high eight threes en route to 36 points as the Clippers crushed the Cavaliers 121-99 to remain the only team in the NBA not to have lost consecutive games.
On Wednesday, the Clippers couldn’t handle the trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving as host Brooklyn beat them 124-120, handing the Clippers just their second defeat in the last dozen contests.
George doesn’t dwell on bad games but rather looks at them as an opportunity to learn about himself and improve his skills.
“Last night was great preparation for tonight,” said George, who made eight-of-nine attempts from beyond the arc. “I did a bad job of shooting my shots. I told myself if I get the same looks, I am going to knock it down.
“My teammates did a great job of looking for me, they set me up and screened for me.”
It was a tired Clippers team that beat the Cavaliers as they finished off their six-game road trip on a winning note in front of a pandemic-limited crowd of 2,000 people at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland.
“We wanted to end this trip on a great note. We didn’t want to lose two in a row, ” said George.
Kawhi Leonard scored 24 points and Croatia’s Ivica Zubac delivered 10 points and 16 rebounds off the bench for the Clippers, who finished 4-2 on the road trip.
Kawhi Leonard #2 of the LA Clippers (Harry How/Getty Images/AFP)
Collin Sexton scored 16 of his 27 points in the first half for Cleveland, and Darius Garland contributed 23 points in the loss.
George sank his eighth three-pointer with 5:09 left to give the Clippers their biggest lead of the contest at 110-93.
Los Angeles was without Patrick Beverley, who missed every game on the road trip with a sore knee.