By George, the Clippers refuse to go away

PHOENIX • Trailing for the first time all night and staring at elimination in the series, the Los Angeles Clippers knew exactly what to do.

Get out of Paul George's way.

And because they did, they will get an opportunity to do it again.

George scored a post-season-career-best 41 points, Reggie Jackson ignited a late spurt and the Clippers survived by holding off the Phoenix Suns 116-102 in Game 5 of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference Finals on Monday night.

The road win in a potential season-ending game was the second of the play-offs for the Clippers, who now return home to the Staples Centre, down 3-2 for Game 6 in the best-of-seven series today.

"We thrive in this moment," insisted George, whose team were down 3-2 in the first round against the Dallas Mavericks before winning the last two games.

"We're fighters. We're scrappy."

The All-Star had 20 of his 41 points in the third quarter, when the Clippers responded to their first deficit of the game to gradually pull away.

A three-point play by Cameron Johnson got the Suns within 98-94 with six minutes and 58 seconds to play, but that was when Jackson took over.

The guard hit two three-pointers and slammed down a dunk in a 14-2 burst during which he and George combined to do all of the Clippers' scoring.

The surge increased the lead to 16 with 4min 3sec to go and the Suns, who had won five straight at home, never got appreciably closer after that.

"Situations like that really bring you together, and you find a way," George said.

"Reggie's one of the most positive people. He keeps everything light, and that's what you need."

The forward's 41-point total surpassed the 39 he twice scored for the Indiana Pacers - against the Washington Wizards in 2014 and the Toronto Raptors in 2016.

Afterwards, he credited his coach Tyronn Lue, saying: "He allows us to come out here and play freely. He doesn't put any extra pressure on.

"We knew what we're facing and what we're up against. That's all that needs to be said. That's who T-Lue is. He's as cool as they come. We take after his identity."

Seeking to make their first trip to the NBA Finals, the Clippers out-shot the Suns 54.8 per cent to 45.2 per cent despite missing Kawhi Leonard for the seventh straight game due to a knee injury, Serge Ibaka, who is out for the season because of back surgery and Ivica Zubac, sidelined with a sprained medial collateral ligament.

No more than 10 minutes after the final buzzer, Lue was writing a script for Game 6, which sounded a lot like the one he had authored for Game 5.

"It's not winning three games; we're trying to win each quarter," he said.

"Having to win three games, that can be a lot of pressure. We try to win a quarter. It starts there. We came out with the mindset. We won three out of four quarters."

Devin Booker paced the Suns, whose last NBA Finals appearance was in 1993, with 31 points.

Teammate Chris Paul, who had 22 points, admitted Phoenix would have to do more to put away his former team today.

"They were a little bit like us in Game 4. They hit us," he said.

"They got too comfortable. We've got to do better."

REUTERS

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