By CLAY BAILEY The Associated Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On the second night of back-to-back road games, the Clippers got back on track – with a few seconds to spare.
Kawhi Leonard scored 24 points, Terance Mann had a season-high 23 points and 12 rebounds, and the Clippers pulled away in the final minutes for a 101-95 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.
Paul George added 14 points for the Clippers and Ivica Zubac finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
“We were able to get stops at the end and make shots,” Leonard said of the Clippers’ play to pull out the victory.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led Memphis with 29 points. GG Jackson had 11 points, Ziaire Williams scored 10 and Vince Williams had eight assists for his sixth straight game with at least seven.
Through three quarters, the game remained close as neither team led by double digits and there were 11 lead changes and eight ties at that point. The Clippers carried a 79-75 lead into the fourth. And things remained close in the quarter.
The 17th – and final – lead change came with 1:35 left when Leonard converted a turnover by Memphis into a dunk. Mann rebounded a miss for a dunk 24 seconds later to put the Clippers up, 96-93. A 3-pointer by James Harden with 46.2 seconds left, his only basket of the night, put the game out of Memphis’ reach.
“That’s what great players do,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of Harden’s basket. “Made that big three down the stretch. That was huge for us.”
Despite the Clippers’ rush at the end, Memphis pushed the visitors, who remained in third place in the Western Conference. Some Grizzlies turnovers and some offensive rebounds by the Clippers, such as Mann’s follow-up dunk, hurt Memphis’ chances.
“I think we should have won, honestly,” said Memphis reserve Lamar Stevens, who finished with eight points and eight rebounds, along with a blocked shot. “I don’t really like the moral victory…
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