BY: ROBERT ANTHONY MORALES – SPORTS ON AIR USA CORRESPONDENT
12-03-2024
LOS ANGELES — In a shootout between two Western Conference contenders, the Los Angeles Clippers had the final say on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning in Manila) at the Intuit Dome.
Norman Powell had 30 points and James Harden added 23 and 7 assists as the LA Clippers used a 36-point fourth quarter to put the visiting Portland Trail Blazers away, 127-105.
Led by 16 points apiece from DeAndre Ayton and Shaedon Sharoe, the Blazers went toe-to-toe with the Clippers in a torrid first half that ended with LA barely hanging on at 63-58. But the Clippers didn’t relent and began to separate with a 28-20 third quarter run.
And that was all she wrote for Portland, which fell on the sword despite shooting a high 51.2 percent from the field (41-of-80) and 10 of 29 from 3.
“I have to do a better job. We weren’t very focused at the start and that had a lasting effect on the game,” Portland coach Chauncey Billups laid the blame on himself at his post-game press conference. “They played hard and took as out defensively,” he said while crediting the Clippers.
The Clippers hit their shots early and often before finishing the night at a high 55.3 percent from the field (47-of-85) and a dazzling 55 percent from 3-point range (19-of-37).
In a trying season where their star, Kawhi Leonard, has yet to play, the Clippers are four games above .500 at 14-10 and are sixth in a loaded conference.
The Blazers, meanwhile, plummeted to 8-14.
