Clippers surge late, overcome Thomas’ 47 to top Nets 124-116

NEW YORK (AP)— Paul George scored 29 points, Kawhi Leonard added 24 and the LosAngeles Clippers overcame a career-high 47 points from Cam Thomasin his first start to beat the short-handed Brooklyn Nets 124-116on Monday night.

Ivica Zubacadded 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who won for theeighth time in 10 games and finished 4-2 on their six-game EasternConference road trip.

“I’m happywith the road trip we had,” Leonard said. “We came out 4-2, andthat’s a pretty good road trip for us.”

Thomas, whoscored 44 to rally the Nets past Washington on Saturday, was evenbetter on the day the Nets completed the trade that sent KyrieIrving to Dallas. But Los Angeles outscored Brooklyn 25-9 over thefinal 6:20.

“Theirobjective (was) to come in and play hard and go hard, and they didthat,” George said. “I thought it was a good experience for us toget good possessions down the stretch.”

Nic Claxtonhad 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Nets, while Edmond Sumnerchipped in 23 points for Brooklyn. Before the game, the deal thatsent Irving and forward Markieff Morris to Dallas for SpencerDinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and multiple draft picks wasannounced.

NeitherDinwiddie nor Finney-Smith were available, nor were stars KevinDurant and Ben Simmons and guard Seth Curry due to injury, leavingcoach Jacque Vaughn forced to rotate 11 of his 12 dressedplayers.

“You just gotto give credit to our group for being ready to play,” Vaughn said.“The optimism and belief that we can win a basketball game with thegroup we had was (good) to see, and our overall effort and energyand communication was good throughout the night.”

Still, LosAngeles’ bench still outscored Brooklyn’s 38-10.

“That’shuge,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “We have a really good benchthat we really trust, and you saw that tonight, increasing the leadwhen (George) and Kawhi went to the bench in the first half. ... Wereally lean on those guys to be good for us.”

But Thomasalmost single-handedly kept Brooklyn within striking distance.Thomas had 22 in the first half, then electrified the crowd with acombination of 3-pointers and mid-range jumpers, helping Brooklynlead by 107-99 midway through the fourth.

“I came outhot early,” Thomas said. “I didn’t know it’d be another 40, but Iknew I’d probably have a great game again. Kudos to the guys forbelieving in me and letting me make decisions down thestretch.”

Los Angelesrallied with a 9-0 run and outscored Brooklyn 33-28 in the fourth,keyed by Leonard’s nine points in the frame.

“Defensivelywe were able to get some stops and get out in transition a littlebit,” Lue said. “Being down eight, we just came out settled downand came out and went on the 9-0 run and took control of thegame.”

The Nets made8 of 12 first-quarter 3-pointers and built an eight-pointadvantage. But the Clippers closed the first with a 10-0 run thenGeorge then scored nine in the second, helping the Clippers buildan 11-point advantage.

But the Netsclosed the half with a 13-4 run, cutting Los Angeles’ lead to 55-53at halftime.

TIPINS

Clippers:Forward Marcus Morris Sr. was ejected with 1:57 left in the secondquarter. … The Clippers improved to 14-11 against the EasternConference and 8-7 on the road.

Nets: Durant(sprained right MCL) missed his 13th straight game. The Nets areexpected to give an update on his progress Tuesday. ... Simmons(left knee soreness) was unavailable for the fifth straight gamebut could play Tuesday against Phoenix on the second night of aback-to-back.