PORTLAND, Ore. — Don’t look now, but the Clippers have momentum.
James Harden had 34 points, Brook Lopez made a career-high nine 3-pointers on his way to 31 points, and Kawhi Leonard scored 18 of his 28 in the fourth quarter as the Clippers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 119-103, on Friday night for their third straight win.
Leonard added eight rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Clippers, who finished 20 for 40 from 3-point range, 29 for 31 from the free-throw line and outscored the Blazers by 22 points in the second half.
The Clippers outscored the Blazers 63-41 in the second half, using a 19-1 run in the third quarter to take control.
A free throw by Donovan Clingan made it 71-59 Blazers with 8:16 left in the third quarter, matching Portland’s biggest lead of the game. After a drought for both teams, the Clippers took over.
After Lopez’s seventh 3-pointer made it 72-67, acting Blazers coach Tiago Splitter was called for a technical foul. Leonard made the free throw to make it 72-68.
Harden hit two free throws and then scored on a driving layup to tie the game at 72-all.
The Clippers took their first lead at 75-72 with 3:23 left in the third quarter on Lopez’s eighth 3-pointer. Lopez connected on his ninth basket from behind the arc to make it 78-72.
Harden’s four-point play with 1:06 left in the third quarter pushed the lead to 85-77.
Leonard had a ferocious dunk on Clingan to make it 95-86.
After a basket by Deni Avdija cut the Clippers’ lead to seven points, the visitors had a six-point possession to push their lead to 101-88 with 8:19 left.
After the Clippers cut Portland’s first-half lead to 52-50, the Blazers went on a 9-0 run, capped by a fast-break dunk from Shaedon Sharpe to make it 61-50, forcing a Clippers timeout.
After the timeout, a three-point play from Harden and a 3-pointer from Kobe Sanders helped cut the Portland lead to 62-56 at halftime.
Avdija led Portland with 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
More to come on this story.
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The Clippers host the Detroit Pistons on Sunday at 6 p.m.