Paul George scores 34 in return as Clippers stun Jazz with another big comeback

LOS ANGELES — Without – and now with! – Paul George, these Clippers are capable of big ol’ comebacks, rallying from precisely 25 points down for the second time this season … and from at least 25 points down for the third time and from 24 or more behind for the fourth time.

This season’s first three successful comebacks came after George was ruled out on Christmas with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

In his first game back from a 43-game layoff, George orchestrated a second-half surge that powered the Clippers past the Utah Jazz, 121-115, on Tuesday night before a sellout crowd of 19,068 fans who left Crypto.com Arena buzzing.

After the Jazz built a 76-51 lead with 8:07 left in the third quarter, the Clippers outscored their guests 70-39 – a run reminiscent of the 75-40 scoring splurge with which they closed Game 6 of their second-round playoff series against Utah last year. The Clippers also rallied from a 25-point deficit in that game, in what was then called Staples Center, to earn their first Western Conference finals berth.

On Tuesday, they erased all of Utah’s 25-point buffer by the 3:24 mark of the fourth quarter on Isaiah Hartenstein’s 7-footer that put the Clippers ahead 110-109.

“Even right when we were down by like 25, I looked at T-Mann, and I’m like, ‘We’ve been here before,’” Hartenstein said, relaying an exchange he had with Terance Mann in the second half. “Like a weird feeling.”

In this comeback – his own and the Clippers’ latest – George played 31 minutes and contributed 34 points (26 in the second half, including 10 in the last 90 seconds of the third quarter). He shot 10 for 20 overall, including a 6-for-9 mark from 3-point range, and went 8 for 11 from the free-throw line.

That total included his layup with 1:37 left that put the Clippers ahead, 114-113.

“It’s simple,” George said. “When a team plays harder than us, it shows and we get ourselves in a hole and it’s just across the board. We don’t shoot the ball well, we don’t defend well, we don’t rebound well, we’re late on 50-50 balls, we’re not getting our hands on balls. It’s just the list goes on when we don’t bring any energy and effort.

“But when we do, the other team looks like how we looked in the first half, so the game completely changes and we give ourselves a chance.”

George is going to give the Clippers a chance, too, when he has games like he did Tuesday, when his scoring tally was, according to Elias Sports Bureau, the most by a player who has missed his team’s previous 40-plus games within one season.

He’s had splashy returns before. George also dazzled in his Clippers debut in 2019, 12 games into the season after having offseason surgery on both shoulders. He scored 33 points on 10-for-17 shooting in a victory at New Orleans.

“The first year he got here when Doc (Rivers) was here, he came to New Orleans and he had a crazy game – that’s very uncommon. Very uncommon,” Lue said. “Just hoping he can keep it rolling.”

Down the stretch Tuesday, after Utah center Rudy Gobert scored, Luke Kennard kept the Clippers rolling with one of his four 3-pointers to give the Clippers a 117-115 lead.

They got a couple of stops and, and with 14.9 seconds left, Reggie Jackson – with the crowd chanting his name, as has become tradition this season – stepped to the free-throw line and knocked down both foul shots. That extended the lead to 119-115 and sent peanut butter and jelly snacks flying throughout the arena in accordance with the Clippers’ promotion on his behalf.

When Donovan Mitchell tried to call a timeout – one the Jazz didn’t have – it sent Jackson back to the line for the technical free throw that made it 120-115. George added one more free throw (to go with his six assists and four steals) and the Clippers’ Welcome-Back-PG party was complete.

The Clippers, who outscored Utah 34-12 over the final nine minutes, snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 37-39. Their magic number is now three – any combination of Clippers wins or New Orleans Pelicans losses – to secure the eighth spot in the Western Conference standings.

Utah dropped to 45-31, tied with the Denver Nuggets for the fifth and sixth spots in the conference, two games ahead of Minnesota.

If anyone had forgotten, there’s much to love about George’s game.

Amir Coffey’s favorite thing about George’s sublime skillset: “How smooth he is. His pace is crazy. He doesn’t let anybody speed him up and his ball-handling for his size.”

For Zubac, it’s the variety: “Just his talent. He’s one of the most talented players ever. His talent for the game of basketball, it’s insane. Like, there’s nothing he can’t do out there.”

So, yeah, Coach Tyronn Lue said, “when he’s making those 3s – when he’s making seven, eight 3s, and we’re tough to beat.”

Or, on the other end, Lue said, “just taking the challenge every single night of guarding the best player, I like that a lot about him.”

But what the Clippers’ coach digs most about the seven-time All-Star, he said, was George making himself available.

“Just the fact that even when he’s injured, he’s always trying to come back and play,” Lue said before tipoff Tuesday, when George made his 2022 debut, sashaying through defenders, streaking to the basket, sinking 3-pointers and free throws, stripping opposing ball handlers.

Just his presence, Lue said, “means a lot. With seven games left in the season, he could very easily have just called it quits, but he wants to play. That’s huge.”

George said he was always optimistic he could return before the season ran out.

“I’ve always played through some sort of injury, so, I just didn’t know how bad it was gonna be or how much time it was gonna take,” George said. “But I just kept the guys encouraged to keep going and stay in it because at some point I will return.”

With only seven games left in the regular season, George clocked in again, returning to help bolster the Clippers’ hopes as the postseason – starting with a play-in game – around the corner and his team in need of a boost.

George immediately gave the Clippers an infusion of style and substance, of star power – and scoring.

And a salve for the now-over skid.

Jackson added 21 points for the Clippers, and off the bench, Kennard had 17 and Hartenstein had 14.

Mitchell led five Jazz scorers in double figures with 33 points.

“Way to hoop!”

A look at the @LAClippers celebrating PG’s 34 point return to action from inside the arena! pic.twitter.com/yWi8zDs9C1

— NBA (@NBA) March 30, 2022

The Comeback Clips!

The @LAClippers erased a 24 point second-half deficit in their comeback victory! #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/MkwZAaBPJP

— NBA (@NBA) March 30, 2022

*DANCE BREAK* pic.twitter.com/5tNGggvRNC

— NBA (@NBA) March 30, 2022

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