George true to his word in Clippers' rebound

SALT LAKE CITY (Utah) • With Kawhi Leonard set to miss the rest of their National Basketball Association (NBA) second-round play-off series and possibly beyond, Paul George promised to carry the Los Angeles Clippers to their first Western Conference Finals.

The 2019 Finals Most Valuable Player injured his knee during Game 4 on Monday and while he initially brushed off the severity of the problem, the team have since said there is "no timetable for his return" from a sprained ligament.

With centre Serge Ibaka already ruled out for the rest of the post-season because of back surgery, the Clippers are now shorthanded but George will not give up on the dream of a maiden championship.

The All-Star scored a game-high 37 points, grabbed a play-off-career high of 16 rebounds and had a team-high five assists in Wednesday's 119-111 win over Utah to help Los Angeles take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. After falling behind 2-0, the Clippers have won three consecutive games and can eliminate the top seeds in Game 6 at the Staples Centre today.

Asked if this was what his "Play-off P" nickname - something he coined himself to much ridicule after his team flopped in the post-season last year - was about, George said with a smile: "Sure. It was no secret. I knew I had to be big tonight and got to be big going forward.

"I've been in Indiana where I had to lead a franchise (the Pacers). It was just that mindset being back in Indy, having to set the tone and come out and lead a ball club. That's really the mindset I came out with."

Teammate Reggie Jackson, who added 22 points, said: "He's incredible. Paul is special... You're going to have the naysayers and critics, but that's what you love about this game. You just have to try to put it behind you."

George's performance - Brooklyn Nets' Kevin Durant is the only other player to have at least 35 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in these play-offs - also earned praise from critics like Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless, who in the past had called him "mentally weak".

Bojan Bogdanovic had 32 points - 27 were from beyond the arc - to pace the Jazz, while Donovan Mitchell, limited by a sprained ankle, added 21 points, five assists and five rebounds. Utah now need to show resilience on the road even though they are likely to be without Mike Conley, missing from the past five games due to a hamstring injury, again.

"The series is not over," Mitchell said. "We got a lot of life left to give and a lot of juice to give, and we just got to go out there and play with a level of desperation that we have never played with before, otherwise, we'll be home."

The Suns await the winners of the Clippers-Jazz match-up but Phoenix suffered a blow of their own after All-Star Chris Paul returned a positive test for Covid-19 on Wednesday, meaning he will miss part of the West Finals.

In the East, Trae Young scored 39 points as the Atlanta Hawks completed a stunning second-half comeback to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 109-106 in their semi-finals Game 5 clash on Wednesday.

Roared on by a raucous home crowd, the Sixers appeared to be poised to go ahead in the best-of-seven series after surging into a 26-point lead early in the second half, only for the visitors to fight back for a 3-2 series lead.

The win means the Hawks can reach the East finals for the first time since 2015 and just the second time in franchise history since the 1976 merger in front of their home fans in Game 6 today.

"We just kept fighting," Young said. "We have confidence in each other. We're a great group...

"We all love each other's company and it shows on the court and we never stopped believing until the final buzzer."

Separately, Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball was named NBA Rookie of the Year on Wednesday, becoming the third player in franchise history to do so after Larry Johnson and Emeka Okafor.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS