LOS ANGELES -- Kawhi Leonard and Paul George scored 31 points -- both have more than 30 points in the second straight game -- and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Utah Jazz 118-104 on Monday night to reach their Western Conference second round gave. Series in two matches.
Leonard provided the highlight of the night with his dunk late in the second quarter. He took the ball past the 3-point line, slammed Royce O'Neill back into the lane and then slammed Derrick Favres to give the Clippers a 62-38 lead with 1:24 remaining in the second quarter.
"We're trying to be aggressive as well as being aggressive to others. It's a healthy mix to be able to do both," said George, who is playing the game after his 100th career. Were.
Leonard and George have scored at least 20 points in all 11 games after this season. They are only the third pair in NBA history to do so in the team's first 11 playoff games and the first time since Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant with the Lakers in 2003.
Jerry West, who watched Monday's game from the side of the court, and Elgin Baylor were the other pairings with the 1962 Lakers.
Marcus Morris added 24 points and got 5 out of 6 on 3-pointers for fourth-seeded Los Angeles. Game 5 is in Salt Lake City on Wednesday night.
"I thought it was our defense where we set the tone. We were able to get out in transition," said Clippers coach Tyrone Lew.
Donovan Mitchell led Utah with 37 points, making him the first player since Golden State's Stephen Curry to make six straight 30-point games in the playoffs in 2019.
Joe Ingalls added 19 and Bojan Bogdanovic added 18 for the top-seeded Jazz, who have lost back-to-back playoff games for the first time this year.
Utah coach Quinn Snyder said, "We were training hard. We were competing. We weren't playing smart in that we weren't connected." "It showed that in the 13-point first quarter we were trying to attack, but we weren't attacking as much - we weren't putting ourselves in situations where we could have had success, I think. .
Utah won the tip and scored on Bogdanovic's dunk before the Clippers scored the next 10 points and never looked back as Leonard had five points during the opening run.
LA's biggest lead in the first quarter was 19 as it was 6 of 12 on 3-pointers and forced six Utah turnovers.
Morris shot a pair of free throws with 5:21 to put the Clippers up 51-22, their biggest lead of the night. They had a 24-point advantage at halftime (68–44), tied for their second-highest in post-season franchise history.
LA led 105–85 with 6:48 remaining, before the Jazz countered with a 17–7 run and cut it in half with 2:10 remaining.
Tip-ins
Jazz: NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert was in bad trouble most nights and finished with 11 points. ... Jordan Clarkson was only 3 of 12 off the field and 2 of 8 at 3-pointers, after averaging 5.3 in the first three games beyond the arc. ...G Mike Connelly ruled out due to a hamstring strain. Snyder didn't have an updated timetable for when Conley might return.
Clippers: Morris Sr. is 16 out of 27 (59.3%) at 3-pointers during LA's six postseason wins, but 7 out of 33 (21.2%) in five losses. ... Patrick Beverly had a career-high four blocks post-season. ... G Rajon Rondo was inactive due to pain in his right knee. Lew said before the game that he planned to go ahead with a nine-player rotation.