By CLAY BAILEY The Associated Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — 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.
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.
The game, which included 11 ties, was the first after the All-Star break for the Grizzlies. The Clippers came off a 129-107 loss at Oklahoma City when they returned to action Thursday night.
Clippers forward P.J. Tucker, who was fined $75,000 by the league earlier this month for publicly demanding a trade, played in his first game since Nov. 27 when he entered in the first quarter.
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A tightly played first half turned into a 59-53 lead at intermission thanks to a 12-2 run by Memphis late in the second quarter. The Clippers were stymied by a dozen first-half turnovers – Leonard with four and George and Russell Westbrook with three each.
UP NEXT
The Clippers host Sacramento on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
More to come on this story.