The Clippers and Rockets provide the thriller that everyone wanted

This regular season game will go down as an all-time classic.

The Los Angeles Clippers saw Kawhi Leonard and Paul George take the floor together for the second time, and everything went swimmingly at first. They led the entire first quarter, and finished the first half ahead 55-51. They even held a 14 lead at one point, but as many other teams have discovered over the years, one can never count out James Harden.

The third quarter was all Rockets. The Beard scored in bunches, heavily featuring in a 14-2 run that saw the visitors grab a 65-57 lead with just under eight minutes left in the period. The presence of two elite wing defenders in Paul George and Kawhi Leonard didn’t seem to make much of a difference against the furious assault from Harden. 

The Clippers aren’t exactly a team to lie down, though, as proven by their comeback against the Boston Celtics earlier in the week. In that game, they came back from 10 down with six minutes left in the game. The bench had a huge performance again, with their two stars out, excellent defense and offense led to a big run that was capped by a three from Lou Williams that tied the game at 76-76. The Rockets held on by a thread to close out the quarter, and entered the fourth quarter with an 84-80 lead. Harden had 28 points at this juncture.

The Clippers started the fourth quarter with Leonard on the floor, opting to rest George for a little while more. Leonard opened the scoring with one of his patented mid-range jumpers. They drew four fouls in a single possession, setting themselves up for the penalty with 10:56 left in the game. Leonard then came up with a steal to tie the game, and Williams drove in for an easy layup to give the Clippers an 88-86 lead with 10:17 left. 

Williams and Leonard continued to prop up the Clippers offense, matching them bucket for bucket to prevent the Rockets from retaking the lead until Kawhi missed a pair of free throws and Harden sank two of his own for a 98-96 lead with 6:54 to go. Williams dished to Montrezl Harrell to tie the game, but PJ Tucker quickly sank a three to retake the lead.

The last minutes of the game were a grind and showed high level basketball from both teams. Leonard struggled from the line, though, missing three in a row before finally sinking on to cut the Rockets lead to 110-109. James Harden answered by making a three and fouling Patrick Beverley out of the game.

When the Clippers needed to stay in the game, Williams showed up to play, making a huge three to cut the lead to 115-112. PJ Tucker had an answer to give the Rockets a 117-112 lead with exactly a minute left. George made a three to cut the lead to 117-115, then a huge block and fast break three from Williams gave the clippers a 118-117 lead with 30.1 seconds left. Williams scored all of his 26 points in the second half.

Harden then drew a foul on Leonard with 22.1 seconds left to give the Rockets the lead again. Leonard answered with another mid-range jumper to take a 1 point lead, and a missed three from Westbrook allowed George to get the rebound and get fouled with 1.2 seconds left. He sank both to give the Clippers a 122-119 lead and the game.

Stars vs Stars

Leonard: 24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals.
George: 19 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists.

Harden: 37 points, 8 rebounds, 12 assists.
Westbrook: 22 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists.

Bench studs

Harrell: 18 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks.

Williams: 26 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists.

Capela: 17 points, 19 rebounds.

The Lakers survive a tough fight from the Thunder

LeBron James and Anthony Davis had to survive a tough game from a young Oklahoma City Thunder squad that is starting to show flashes of promise. The game was close throughout, with neither team outscoring the other by more than 4 points in any quarter.

The Lake Show was again buoyed by their two superstars. Davis led all scorers with 33 points, along with 11 rebounds and 7 assists. James put up 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 14 assists. 

Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, who came to the Thunder from the Clippers in the Paul George trade, had a good game as well. He finished with 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 10 of 18 from the field.

Other game notes:

Luka Doncic put on another show in front of his home fans, with 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 14 assists in less than 30 minutes of play. At this point, superstar is the only word that can describe the young Slovenian. The Mavericks beat the Clippers 143-101.

Nikola Jokic had another triple double for the Nuggets, finishing with 18 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 96-92 victory against the Celtics.

The depleted Warriors came close to making a comeback against the Jazz, who saw a double digit lead evaporate thanks to a 37-23 fourth quarter from the Dubs. The Jazz took home a 113-109 win.

The Spurs are now on their worst run since Greg Popovich took over, suffering their eighth straight defeat against the 76ers. This may finally be the season where the Spurs miss the playoffs.

Bulls def. Heat 116-108, Wizards def Hornets 125-118, Nets def. Kings 116-97, Pistons def. Hawks 128-103.