LOS ANGELES — It’s really never over til it’s over the way the Clippers do it, but you can finally stick a fork in their winning streak after seven straight victories.
Despite erasing a 17-point deficit and taking a short-lived one-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Clippers (8-5) fell short, losing to the Chicago Bulls 100-90 in a Sunday night slugfest between two defensive-minded crews before a crowd of 17,899 at Staples Center.
The Clippers took a 78-77 lead with 10 minutes to play, but a pair of former local college players helped Chicago (9-4) fend off Tyronn Lue’s team in the final 10 minutes.
DeMar DeRozan, a Compton native who played collegiately at USC, scored nine of his game-high 35 points in the final period. He shot 12 for 16 overall (all but four of his shots coming from the mid-range) and made 10 of 11 free throws. He added seven rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes.
“He was too comfortable in the first half,” Lue said. “I thought he got to his spot every single time. In the second half thought we did a better job of blitzing him and mixing it up, firing at him a little bit to get the ball out of his hands but at that point in time he was already comfortable and then he made a 3-pointer at the end of a shot clock, as well, so, that’s what great players do.”
And UCLA product Zach LaVine brought them home. He scored 21 of his 29 points in the second half and finished 6 for 13 from deep.
Clippers star Paul George played 41 minutes and finished with 27 points on 7-for-25 shooting.
“Myself, personally, I couldn’t make shots, couldn’t get them to fall tonight, a lot of in and outs, a lot of good looks, just wasn’t my night shooting,” said George, who grabbed 11 rebounds and was perfect from the free-throw line, making all 11 of his foul shots (the Clippers went 21 for 21 as a team).
Eric Bledsoe finished with 21 points. Reggie Jackson was the only other Clipper to score in double figures, with 13 points on 4-for-17 shooting.
The Clippers shot just 35.8% as a team, their second lowest percentage in a game this season. They also committed 20 turnovers, equaling their season high.
“Just lost. Our guys got tired. I thought they were fatigued,” Lue said. “I messed up, I played them too many minutes. So you get fatigued, you don’t attack the rim, don’t attack the basket and get downhill. Took some tough shots like you said 3s, didn’t get inside the paint. So our guys were tired, you could see that, and that was one me.
“So, whatever. Start a new streak.”
Playing the second half of a weekend back-to-back, the Clippers hoped to carry momentum from Saturday’s 129-102 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves into Sunday’s game against Chicago.
Chicago came in after being blown out 119-93 by Golden State on Friday, when the Bulls opened a five-game Western Conference road swing by suffering their first double-digit-point margin defeat this season.
The Clippers were out of sync early, opening the game with 10 first-quarter turnovers and just five makes on just 15 attempts — and a 30-17 deficit to show for it.
It was a different story for DeRozan; he was sharp from the outset, shooting 5 for 7 in the first quarter for 12 of his total.
The Clippers trailed 34-17 with 10:57 to go in the second quarter, the 17-point deficit matching the early gap in their win against Miami last week, which followed comebacks from a 13-point first-quarter deficit against Charlotte, a 20-point first-half deficit against Minnesota and a 15-point hole against Oklahoma City.
“This team always find a way to fight and get back into a game, that’s always a a positive,” George said. “We’re not gonna win every game and today was just one we couldn’t get.”
The Bulls led 54-45 at halftime after the Clippers outscored Chicago 28-24 in that second quarter, thanks to 11 points from George.
The Clippers kept it close, refusing to let Chicago separate. No great surprise, George had something to do with that; he put his head down and went to the rim, barking at the refs for fouls (and getting T’d up one time and awarded the and-1 foul the next).
His efforts closed the gap to 68-64 — the closest the Clippers had come since it was 11-8.
Entering the fourth, the Clippers trailed 77-71. Two minutes and two seconds later, they led 78-77 after George cashed a falling-down bank shot — their first lead since it was 8-7.
Chicago’s response: DeRozan. He scored four points and assisted on Tony Bradley’s bucket as the Bulls scored six quick points to pull ahead, 83-78.
Then LaVine — who dropped 45 points on the Clippers at Staples Center last season — drilled a 3-pointer to push the lead to eight points.
Chino Hills native Lonzo Ball finished with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists in 34 minutes.
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