NBA: Clippers shatter franchise records in rout of Mavs; Denver keep dream alive

ORLANDO (REUTERS) - Paul George and Kawhi Leonard made sure the Los Angeles Clippers had short memories in Game 5 of their National Basketball Association Western Conference first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night (Aug 25).

After blowing a 21-point lead and losing on an overtime buzzer-beater in Game 4, the Clippers responded early and often behind George and Leonard, setting franchise play-off records for most points, three-pointers and shooting percentage in a 154-111 win.

George bounced back from three straight sub-par performances against Dallas to score 35 points, and Leonard finished with 32 points and seven rebounds for the Clippers, who took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Montrezl Harrell added 19 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for Los Angeles, who shot 63.1 from the floor and 22-for-35 (62.9 per cent) from three-point distance.

Game 6 is on Thursday night.

Mavericks star Luka Doncic finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. He had 43 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists and hit the game-winner in overtime for the Mavericks in Game 4.

Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 19 points, Trey Burke had 15 and Maxi Kleber finished with 12 for the Mavericks, who were without 6.5m forward Kristaps Porzingis. Porzingis, who averaged 20.4 points and 9.5 rebounds during the regular season, missed his second straight game due to a sore right knee.

In another clash on Tuesday, Jamal Murray had 42 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, while Nikola Jokic had 31 points, as the Denver Nuggets stayed alive with a 117-107 victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 5 of their Western Conference series.

Murray scored 33 in the second half alone, while Michael Porter Jr had 15 points in the game and Jerami Grant added 13 to help the Nuggets rally. Denver now trail 3-2 in the series.

Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, while Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson had 17 each and Rudy Gobert had 11 points and 12 rebounds for Utah. Joe Ingles added 13 and Royce O'Neale scored 10.

The game was tied 101-all with under four minutes to play when Murray took over. He hit a fade-away off an offensive rebound, drained a three-pointer and hit two step-back jumpers to put Denver ahead 110-101 with 1min 20sec remaining.

Mitchell split a pair of free throws, Gobert dunked to pull Utah within six at 110-104 but Murray passed to Jokic in the corner, and his three-pointer with 23 seconds left put Denver back up 113-104.

Mitchell banked in a three-pointer with 18.8 seconds remaining but Grant hit four free throws in the final 14 seconds to seal it.

Down 81-69 in the third quarter, the Nuggets went on a 13-3 run, led by Murray, who had 11 of those. His spinning lay-up with 35 seconds left made it 84-82 but Gobert's dunk put the Jazz ahead 86-82 heading into the fourth.

Jokic hit a three-pointer to open the fourth and Porter's turnaround jumper put Denver ahead 87-86 with 10:13 left, their first lead since the early in the second quarter.

The teams traded small runs, with the Nuggets taking a four-point lead and Utah responding to go up by two. Grant hit a three-pointer to up Denver up 101-98, and a lay-up by Conley and free throw from Gobert tied it with 3:46 left.

Clarkson heated up in the second quarter, scoring 11 of his points and hitting a trio of three-pointers to help the Jazz take a 63-54 lead at half-time.