Clippers blow 31-point lead, hold off Mavericks to win Game 4 – Orange County Register

By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Sports Editor

DALLAS — The Clippers’ back-and-forth series with the Dallas Mavericks just keeps getting wilder and wilder.

Paul George and James Harden each scored 33 points while playing key roles in the fourth quarter to help the Clippers hold on after blowing a 31-point lead and beating the Mavericks, 116-111, in Game 4 Sunday after -noon, tying the best-of-seven first-round playoff series at 2-2.

The Clippers won again without All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard, who missed the series opener with right knee inflammation before playing in both of Dallas’ victories.

The teams split as a duo on each other’s home court in the third first-round meeting between them in the last five seasons. Game 5 will take place on Wednesday evening at the Crypto.com Arena.

Kyrie Irving scored 40 points for Dallas, including an acrobatic layup with 2:15 left for a 104-103 lead that was the first for the Mavericks since midway through the first quarter.

Luka Doncic had 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in his fourth career playoff triple-double – all against the Clippers.

George scored 26 points in the first half, when the Clippers’ lead grew to 55-24 on a 3-pointer from Harden. The top-scoring stars combined to go 11-of-16 from long range while the Clippers finished 18-of-29 from behind the arc.

After Irving’s layup, George hit his first basket of the second half, a fadeaway 3-pointer from the corner. Irving missed a layup and Harden converted a three-point play as the 10-time All-Star scored 15 points in the fourth.