Leonard and George on song to silence Jazz

LOS ANGELES • Kawhi Leonard and Paul George combined for 65 points as the Los Angeles Clippers showed they still have some fight left, beating the Utah Jazz 132-106 in Game 3 of their National Basketball Association (NBA) second-round play-off series.

The 2019 Finals Most Valuable Player finished with 34 points and 12 assists, while George had 31 for the hosts, who had no room for error during the game played in front of a pandemic-limited crowd of 8,000 at the Staples Centre.

No team have come back from a 3-0 post-season deficit and Clippers coach Tyronn Lue revealed his players knew what was on the line after cutting the margin to 2-1 in favour of the top-seeded Jazz.

"I need my two best players to be able to do that," he said. "They set the table for everyone else."

Western Conference fourth seeds Clippers closed out the game with a 26-11 surge and with Game 4 also at the Staples Centre today, George is confident they can level the series as long as they retain the same hustling mindset.

"I got to the shots I am most comfortable with and I stuck with it," he said. "It is all about putting pressure on their defence and staying with an attack mentality all game.

"They lit a fire under us. We had to protect home court."

Reggie Jackson and Nicolas Batum added 17 points each for the Clippers in the win.

The Jazz were playing without Mike Conley, who sat out his third straight game with a sore hamstring.

Donovan Mitchell scored a team-high 30 points but missed the final seven minutes after turning his right ankle. The guard missed his team's final 16 regular-season games as well as Game 1 of their play-off opener against the Memphis Grizzlies due to the same injury.

Mitchell was averaging 41 points heading into Game 3 after scoring a total of 82 points in the first two games, becoming the first Jazz player to score at least 35 points in back-to-back play-off meetings since Karl Malone accomplished the feat three straight times in 1988.

However, the All-Star claimed he was ready to go in the next game.

Paul George's last 30-point game for Los Angeles Clippers came on April 23, against the Houston Rockets.

"I am good. I wanted to go back in but no need to risk it as we were down 16 or 18 at that point. I will be fine," he said.

Joe Ingles scored 19 points for the visitors, while teammates Jordan Clarkson added 14 points, Rudy Gobert contributed 12 points and 10 boards and Royce O'Neale had 12 points.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE