LOS ANGELES — It took a while, 36 minutes to be exact before the Clippers got it right Saturday afternoon.
After three uncomfortably close quarters, the Clippers refocused and handed the New York Knicks a convincing 106-95 defeat at Crypto.com Arena.
Whether it was a between-period pep talk by coach Tyronn Lue or the team not wanting to engage in another drawn-out game, the Clippers (36-33) got rolling in the fourth and came away with their third consecutive victory.
The separation began with a layup by Paul George, followed by a jumper by Eric Gordon and punctuated with a dunk by Terance Mann. Suddenly, the Clippers had a six-point lead and Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau called timeout less than two minutes into the fourth quarter.
The pause in play didn’t faze the Clippers. They continued to push the pace, make crisp passes and create havoc on defense for the Knicks (39-30) until they built a 97-85 with 4:33 left to go. Kawhi Leonard’s 13-foot jumper gave the Clippers their largest lead at 99-85.
The Clippers kept the pressure on the Knicks, who were looking to snap a three-game losing streak without guard Jalen Brunson, who missed his third consecutive game because of a foot injury he suffered a week ago. He had scored 42 points against the Clippers in overtime last month in New York.
Instead, the Clippers had to deal with Immanuel Quickley, who started for Brunson. Quickley scored a team-high 26 points and had 10 rebounds and four assists.
Julius Randle added 19 points and eight rebounds despite having five fouls.
Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 38 points, George added 22 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Gordon had 10 points.
At times, the Clippers couldn’t get out of their own way in the first half, tripping over each other inside, making poor decisions on offense, and trailed 49-47.
They ran out to a 10-point lead early, but let it slip away as the Knicks, capitalizing on turnovers and poor shooting, went on an 11-2 run to close within 18-17. Not helping was the lack of scoring from George and Westbook in the first quarter.
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While Westbrook struggled to find any rhythm, George began finding his mark, scoring 13 points in the second quarter, including a 25-footer in the first half for his 2,000th career 3-pointer to become just one of 14 players in the league to reach that milestone.
Leonard added 10 points in the opening half, but it was the combined misses of the two stars that stood out. George and Leonard attempted 23 field goals combined in the first half, making a combined 11. The bench scoring was also lacking as four players scored just nine points on 10 shots.