ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� Kawhi Leonard scored 32 points, including a season-high five 3-pointers, Paul George added 23 points and the Los Angeles Clippers won their fifth straight game, a 120-113 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.
鈥淲e limited them to 25% from 3 tonight, under 50% from the field, I think that鈥檚 big-time for us right now on defense," Leonard said. 鈥淭hat was one of the things that got us in a slump. We shot the ball well tonight."
Trae Young had 12 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter for the Hawks, who whittled a 14-point deficit down to four on De鈥橝ndre Hunter鈥檚 left corner 3 with 2:09 remaining. But they couldn鈥檛 get any closer after George buried a baseline jumper and Nicolas Batum hit a right corner 3 with 49.3 seconds to go.
George knocked down two free throws at the 17.6-second mark to put the game out of reach.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e just taking the steps to grow as a team," George said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e sharing the ball. We鈥檙e playing the right way. We鈥檙e playing for one another, and I think our defense has been impactful. It鈥檚 starting to affect games.
"I think when we went through a stretch where we weren鈥檛 playing well, we were giving up a lot of points. I think we鈥檙e starting to cut that down."
The Hawks dropped to 8-6 in January, including 6-3 in their last nine outings.
The Clippers used an 8-1 run early in the fourth to build an 11-point lead on Reggie Jackson鈥檚 layup. Atlanta called timeout, but it made no difference as Los Angeles went up by 12 on Norman Powell鈥檚 left corner 3 with 9:13 remaining. A pair of free throws by Ivica Zubac and Zubac鈥檚 putback dunk made it a game-high 14-point lead at the 5:22 mark.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got two guys out there that are all-NBA type players," Young said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 easier said on how to stop those guys than just doing it. They played really good tonight. Kawhi did a really good job of scoring when he needed to and P.G. got everybody involved when he was getting in traps and stuff, but he was scoring early.
鈥淭hose guys played really well. You鈥檝e got to give them credit."
The Hawks pulled within one midway through the third, but the lead swelled to 71-66 on a pair of 3s by Luke Kennard. Leonard followed with two 3s that made it 76-68, and Los Angeles entered the fourth leading 84-81.
鈥淚 was able to get some open looks and if it鈥檚 open, I鈥檓 going to shoot the ball," Leonard said. 鈥淚t felt good."
Atlanta took the game鈥檚 first double-digit lead at 41-30 on Dejounte Murray鈥檚 10-footer, but the Clippers went on a 26-8 run to go up 56-49 on Zubac鈥檚 dunk late in the second. They didn鈥檛 trail again for the rest of the game and led 58-53 at halftime.
鈥淚 think we limited them to one shot attempt and got the rebound, came back on the offensive end with pace and made shots," Leonard said. 鈥淲e were able to control the game from there."
TIP-INS
Clippers: F Marcus Morris Sr. was held out with a rib contusion. ... F Robert Covington was not available due to personal reasons. ... Los Angeles has scored over 100 points in 12 straight games. ... The Clippers improved to 20-6 when leading after three. ... They shot 48.7% on 39 attempts on 3s.
Hawks: Outscored Los Angeles 62-32 on points in the paint. ... Young went without a 3 for the third time in the last four games, and Atlanta dropped to 1-5 when he fails to connect beyond the arc. He was 0 for 2. ... All five of the starters scored in double figures. ... Young had 10 assists. ... Clint Capela had 12 rebounds.
UP NEXT
Clippers: At Cleveland on Sunday.
Hawks: At Portland on Monday.
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AP NBA: and
George Henry, The Associated Press
