George and Jackson led Clippers 113–90 past Hornets
Paul George had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Reggie Jackson added 19 points off the bench, including five 3-pointers and the Los Angeles Clippers handed the Charlotte Hornets their fourth loss in the last five games, 113–90 on Thursday night.
Kawhi Leonard had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Clippers, who remain in third place, one game ahead of the Denver Nuggets with two games remaining.
The NBA’s best 3-point shooting team this season lived up to expectations as they made 21 of 45 shots from beyond the arc.
“We have been shooting it great all year,” Leonard said. “I’m just happy guys are being aggressive and making the right play. (The Hornets) were packing the paint and we had a lot of double teams, so once we kicked it out, we were knocking down shots.”
“We tried a number of things to keep them off balance,” said Hornets coach James Borrego about mixing it up defensively bit nothing really worked. “But they have another gear they can get to and they did it that second half.”
LaMelo Ball had 18 points and seven assists for the Hornets (33–37).
Former Hornets forward Nic Batum, who was booed relentlessly by fans during the game, made back-to-back 3-pointers to close out the third quarter and give the Clippers an 84–77 lead.
“I just let the game come to me,” Batum said. “I don’t care if I take six or eight shots. I’m just trying to take the correct shot.”
“We’re searching for answers,” Borrego said about the Clippers outscored the Hornets 29–13 in the fourth quarter. “We’re looking for lineups, we’re looking for shot-making and we’ve gone dry in a lot of these fourth quarters.”