LOS ANGELES — Marcus Morris Sr. scored a season-high 33 points, Paul George added 32 and the Los Angeles Clippers capped a nine-game homestand with a 131-124 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night.
George has three straight 30-point games despite dealing with a nagging toe injury. He had six points during the fourth quarter as the Clippers rallied for their fifth straight win.
Morris, who was five points shy of tying his career high, made six 3-pointers and went over 1,000 for his career.
Los Angeles was missing Kawhi Leonard, who sat out to rest as the Clippers were playing their third game in four nights. Everyone else picked up the slack though as they had seven players in double figures.
Josh Jackson scored 26 points and Saddiq Bey added 25 for the Pistons, who have dropped three of their last four.
The Clippers shot 62.5% from the field but trailed for most of the night against the Eastern Conference’s worst team. Mason Plumlee’s layup with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter gave the Pistons a 93-81 advantage before LA started rallying.
The game was tied at 110 with 6:23 remaining before the Clippers seized momentum with a 10-2 run. A 3-pointer by Nicolas Batum gave them the lead for good while George had four points during the run, including a driving dunk on Isaiah Stewart to extend the advantage to five.
Los Angeles extended its lead to 11 points in the final minute.
The Clippers were 25 of 36 from the field for the first half but didn’t lead for the first time until Ivica Zubac’s dunk gave them a 61-60 advantage with 2:06 remaining in the second quarter.
TIP INS
Pistons: Detroit is 3-8 during the second game of back-to-backs. … Jerami Grant, who leads the team in scoring with 22.5 points per game, was out for the third straight game due to right knee soreness.
Clippers: Luke Kennard scored 11 points and went over 2,000 for his career on a driving layup during the third quarter. … Ivica Zubac had a career-high seven assists to go along with 13 points and 10 rebounds. … Serge Ibaka, who missed his 15th straight game due to back issues, will not be on the upcoming road trip. That means the earliest the center could return is April 18 against Minnesota.
UP NEXT
Pistons: Host the Clippers on Wednesday.
Clippers: Begin a three-game road trip on Tuesday at Indiana.
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