NBA: Clippers bounce back to suffocate Heat, Pacers beat Jazz in hard clash.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – The Los Angeles Clippers extended their NBA winning streak to six games on Thursday (November 11), rebounding from an initial 17-point deficit and hoping for a 112-109 victory over the Miami Heat.
Paul George scored 27 points and Reggie Jackson scored all 22 of his points in the second half for the Clippers, who gave the Heat a second straight loss in as many days in Los Angeles after their overtime loss to the Lakers on Wednesday.
The Heat seemed determined to bounce back from that disappointment when they took a 17-point lead in the first quarter, driven by 19 points in the first period from Bam Adebayo on their way to a season-high 30.
However, by halftime, the Clippers had edged closer to 58-56 and led 86-78 in the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles pushed the lead to 11 early in the final period, but Miami held it close when Kyle Lowry scored 22 of his 25 points in the fourth.
Eric Bledsoe’s 21 points for the Clippers included a flurry of seven in a row in the final period that helped the hosts hold on, even as Miami twice cut the deficit to one point in the final minute.
“We’re just trying to stay calm, be patient and see well,” Bledsoe said after Jackson’s two free throws with 3.9 seconds remaining gave the Clippers a three-point lead.
Clippers forward Nicolas Batum then rebuffed an inning attempt by Miami’s PJ Tucker and finished.
“We just finished strong on the defensive end,” Bledsoe said, saying the determination on display was the key to the Clippers’ current career.
“We fight in each and every game,” he said. “Even though we’re down, we give ourselves a chance to win. We finished strong tonight.”
The Indiana Pacers bounced back from a narrow loss in Denver with a 111-100 win over the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City, where a late-game fight between Pacers center Myles Turner and Utah’s Rudy Gobert saw them both ejected. along with the Jazz Donovan players. Mitchell and Joe Ingles.
The fight started with less than five minutes to go when Turner blocked Gobert’s layup and was knocked to the ground by the Utah player. Turner then gave Gobert a shove, and Gobert responded by wrapping Turner in a hug.
“He fouled me, I fell and knocked him down,” Gobert said. “It was a foul. Then he pushed me from behind. Then nothing happened.”
But the two players had to be separated, while Ingles, who pushed a referee, and Mitchell, who stayed closer to the middle of the court, were also expelled from the contest.
“That further ignited our determination to finish strong,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after his team handed the Jazz their first home loss of the season.
Malcolm Brogdon scored a season-high 30 points and had nine rebounds for the Pacers.
TJ McConnell added 21 points and eight rebounds off the bench and Turner contributed 13 points for Indiana.
Mitchell led the Jazz with 26 points and Gobert added 19 points and 11 rebounds, 11 of his points in the third quarter as the Jazz cut a 12-point lead to three with 2:46 left in the period.
Indiana responded with three 3-pointers from Turner and Brogdon and the Jazz couldn’t get the deficit below five points in the fourth quarter.