Clippers dominate 2nd half to beat Blazers for 3rd straight win

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 a season-best 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 first three-game winning streak of the season.

Leonard added eight rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Clippers (9-21), who finished 20 for 40 from 3-point range, 29 for 31 from the free-throw line and outscored the Blazers (12-19) by 22 points in the second half.

The Clippers never led during the first 32-plus minutes but used a 19-1 run in the third quarter to take control and outscored the Blazers 63-41 after halftime.

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 28 seconds later 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 ran off six straight points – a Jordan Miller 3-pointer and three free throws by Leonard – to push their lead to 101-88 with 8:19 left.

Leonard made a 3-pointer to make it 113-99 with 1:35 left, and the Clippers closed it out.

The Trail Blazers led by as many as 12 in the opening period before Lopez scored 11 points in the second quarter, sinking three 3-pointers, to get the Clippers back into the game.

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, nine rebounds and nine assists. Toumani Camara made five 3-pointers and scored 20 points and Shaedon Sharpe added 16 points for Portland. Caleb Love had 14 points off the bench, and Clingan added 10 points and eight rebounds.

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The Clippers host the Detroit Pistons on Sunday at 6 p.m.