Photo: VCG

 

Paul George found his groove just in time to help the Los Angeles Clippers pull off a 108-105 NBA victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday.

George, who made just two of his first seven shots, drained four of his last six as the Clippers rallied from a 15-point second-quarter deficit to snatch the win.

Trailing by nine points at halftime, the Clippers outscored the Spurs 31-19 in the third period to take an 85-82 lead.

After a back-and-forth battle in the fourth the Clippers emerged with the win by three.

"We don't care if it's a blowout or it's a close one - we need to learn how to do both," said George, who also pulled down 12 rebounds and handed out eight assists as the Clippers, second in the Western Conference, improved to 35-15.

Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 22 points and his one-handed dunk - off a pass from George - put Los Angeles up by two with 1:35 to play.

George drained a jump shot with 13.7 seconds left to give Los Angeles a 106-102 lead, the Spurs responding with a three-pointer from Patty Mills before Lou Williams made two free throws for the Clippers to seal it.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 13 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter for the Spurs, but DeRozan, who scored 26, came up empty in the final period.

In Miami, Jimmy Butler exploded for a season-high 38 points against his former team, doing enough damage to sit out all of the fourth quarter of the Heat's 137-106 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Butler's aggressive game helped the Heat overcome the early departures of injured Tyler Herro and Meyers Leonard - who had to be helped from the floor with a sprained left ankle.

With Boston's 123-115 victory over the Hawks in Atlanta, Miami and the Celtics both finished the night with records of 34-15 - eight games behind Eastern Conference leaders Milwaukee and 1.5 behind second-placed Toronto.

Bam Adebayo added 18 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists for the Heat, who scored 41 points in the third quarter to blow open the game.