Marcus Morris scores 33 points, Clippers fight off Pistons

LOS ANGELES — “Nico for trois!” 

Nicolas Batum, the veteran, versatile forward from France, gave Clippers public address announcer Eric Smith ample opportunity to deliver the line Sunday with a trio of timely treys in the final period as the Clippers’ staved off an upset bid by Detroit, 131-124, for their fifth consecutive victory.

With a six-point advantage in the final period, a young, energized Pistons seemed poised to put a damper on the Clippers’ darn successful nine-game homestand.

Ultimately, the Clippers — including their self-proclaimed glue guy — decided not.

First, Batum and Terance Mann buried back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 20-8 Clippers’ run that tied the game 101-101 with 10:08 to play.

Batum’s next 3 made it 110-106 before he knocked down a third (upon review) 3 that made it 113-110.

Moments later, Paul George licked his chops and rose up, up, upward for a most resolute exclamation point, punctuating the momentum shift with a monster slam on rookie Isaiah Stewart that made it 115-110 with 4:55 to play.

“I’m looking to dunk that!” George said after the victory, via Zoom. “He’s way under the basket. I wasn’t getting no calls, so I knew I just had to go aggressive and finish at the rim.”

The Clippers — now 37-18 and guaranteed a better-than-.500 finish for the franchise-record-extending 10th consecutive season — never relinquished the lead thereafter, fending off the plucky Pistons who’d led for most of the game before that.

L.A. staggered their superstars in the final two games of their long homestand, which they finished 7-2. After George got the night off Friday in the Clippers’ victory over Houston, and on Sunday, and the team on Sunday played without star forward Kawhi Leonard, who had the game against a struggling Eastern Conference opponent off to rest.

So George — along with Marcus Morris Sr. — handled the bulk of the scoring Sunday. George finished with 32 points (shooting 12 for 25 from the field and, because he mentioned it, 7 for 7 from the free-throw line). Morris chipped in heartily too, with a season-high 33, 13 coming in the third period.

And throughout Sunday’s contest, as he has for much of the season, Batum proved a steadying presence. Off the bench, he finished with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, including making all four of his 3-point tries. He also had nine rebounds, three assists and a season-high three blocks.

“Nic Batum, on both ends of the floor, really was good for us,” Clippers Coach Tyronn Lue said. “And Marcus of course, scoring the basketball, PG too. But I thought Nic went in and changed the game, he and (Rajon) Rondo off the bench.”

Rondo’s 10 points and six assists helped steer the Clippers, as did Ivica Zubac’s effort encroaching on a triple double.

The 24-year-old center finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his 11th double-double this season, the most of his young career. What’s more: Against Detroit, he added a career-best seven assists on a night the Clippers tallied a season-high 35 dimes — and shot a season-best 62.5% (50 for 80) from the field.

And yet, the Pistons (16-38) made sure Sunday’s game was no walk in the park for the hosts. Detroit did that with better-than-normal shooting, making 15 of their 32 attempts from long range and shooting 52.9% overall (46 for 87).

“I mean, they got everything they wanted,” Lue said. “I thought we were a little slow to the ball, on the 50-50 balls. But you gotta give them credit, they ran some good stuff. They made some tough shots. It wasn’t like we were just giving them shots. They earned, pretty much, a lot of the shots they made. They earned them. A lot of these young guys, they’re coming in, just having an opportunity to play when guys are out. And they make the most of it. I’m just proud that we were able to score the ball and try to keep the game close.”

For their part, the Clippers also helped make it interesting with 17 turnovers, two fewer than their season-high, a tally that Sunday led to 28 Pistons points.

L.A. went into halftime with a slim 63-62 advantage against Pistons team playing the second game of a back-to-back set, and licking its wounds a bit after being almost outrebounded by Enes Kanter alone — 38-30 — in their 118-103 loss Saturday in Portland.

In the end, the Clippers held a 37-31 rebounding advantage Sunday — when the teams combined to miss just 71 shots combined.

Detroit — which entered the game giving up the second fewest 3-point attempts in the NBA, with just 31.4 per game — kept the Clippers from getting going on the outside to start, limiting them to just 11 attempts (seven of which they made) from behind the arc in the first half, off their pace of 34.6 per game.

In the end, L.A. shot 15 for 26 (57.7%) from deep, including going 6 for 9 from 3-point range in their 37-point fourth quarter.

In starting roles against their former team, Reggie Jackson finished with 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds and Luke Kennard had 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting.

Center Serge Ibaka (back tightness) was again relegated to watching from the sideline, and will be watching from California for the Clippers’ forthcoming three-game road trip, Lue said. Starting guard Patrick Beverley will be out for at least another three or four weeks after suffering a fractured bone in his left hand last week.

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