National Basketball Association

Paul George scores 34 in return, Clippers rally past Jazz

Published Mar. 30, 2022 1:47 a.m. ET

The veteran wing returned to action on Tuesday night after missing three months of action and gave his LA Clippers a huge lift, scoring 34 points as LA rallied from a 25-point deficit to beat the Utah Jazz 121-115.

Reggie Jackson added 21 points for the Clippers, who snapped a five-game skid with a 39-point fourth quarter after trailing by 16 early in the period.

From there, the Clippers outscored Utah 34-12 to end the game. The Clippers took their first lead of the game, 110-109, on a jumper by Isaiah Hartenstein. During the spurt, George hit his sixth 3-pointer of the game.

The victory improved the Clippers' record to 37-39, good for eighth place in the Western Conference. The Jazz, who have lost five games in a row, are fifth in the West at 45-31.

With George resting to start the fourth period, Robert Covington drilled a 3-pointer from in front of his bench that left the Clippers trailing 103-94. It was their first single-digit deficit since the opening quarter, when they were held to 14 points.

Utah led by 25 points early in the third on a basket by Rudy Gobert. George scored 20 points in the period, including 10 of their final 12 points to cut the deficit to 94-82 heading into the fourth.

The Clippers were 47-25 last season, advancing all the way to the Western Conference finals, where they lost to the Phoenix Suns in six games.

This season, though, has gone differently. On Christmas, the team announced that George had suffered an elbow injury and would be re-evaluated in 3-4 weeks. The injury turned out to be a torn elbow ligament, and the Clippers went 19-24 in his absence.

George's strong return caught some attention around the sports world. Here is a sampling.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.