LA Clippers at Oklahoma City Thunder

George scores 33 to help Thunder top Clippers 110-104

Oklahoma City's forward shredded the Clippers for 33 points, seven rebounds and six assists in a 110-104 victory on Saturday night.

George isn't just handling pressure, he's thriving in it. He made 11 of 19 shots against the Clippers and didn't have a turnover.

"He's great," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "He's just so long, tough, plays at a great pace. Can't speed him up, really. He knows he's bigger than most of those guys that's guarding him, so when he's shooting the ball like that, he's tough."

It was the fourth time in seven December games George scored at least 30 points. He's averaging 29.1 points this month while shooting 52 percent from the field.

Russell Westbrook had 13 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds and six steals for Oklahoma City. He made just 4 of 17 shots, yet he had a positive effect on his team.

Jerami Grant scored 18 points and Steven Adams added 16 for the Thunder, who bounced back from a 109-98 loss at Denver on Friday night.

Danilo Gallinari matched a season high with 28 points, Tobias Harris scored 22 and Montrezl Harrell added 21 for the Clippers.

The Thunder led 61-50 at halftime, despite Westbrook going scoreless for almost 22 minutes to start the game. George picked up the slack with 21 points in the first half.

Los Angeles' Patrick Beverley got called for a technical foul in the closing seconds of the third quarter, and George made the free throw to give the Thunder an 86-69 lead at the end of the period.

Harrell scored, was fouled and made the free throw with just over a minute remaining to cut Oklahoma City's lead to six. With the margin still six, Harrell was fouled by Westbrook on a dunk attempt with 20.7 seconds left. He missed both free throws, and the Thunder called timeout. Oklahoma City got the ball inbounds, and George passed his way out of a trap to find Grant for a dunk that put the game out of reach.

TIP-INS

Clippers: G Lou Williams missed his third straight game with a sore left hamstring. ... C Marcin Gortat was called for a technical in the second quarter. ... Beverley, long hated by Thunder fans for his numerous run-ins with Westbrook, scored nine points but committed five fouls.

Thunder: Forced 26 turnovers, the most for an opponent this season. ... Shot 47 percent from the field.

STAT LINES

Westbrook passed Kobe Bryant for 30th in NBA history in assists.

HE SAID IT

George, on the defensive pressure: "When we're rotating, when we're in the right spots, we shrink the floor. We make the game easy defensively. We cause guys that aren't necessarily playmakers to make plays. I thought that's what we did."

UP NEXT

Clippers: Host the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.

Thunder: Host the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP

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Regular Season Series

OKC leads series 2-1