LOS ANGELES (AP) – Amir Coffey had 18 points, Reggie Jackson scored 11 of his 13 in the fourth quarter and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied from a 25-point deficit in the second half for a stunning 87-85 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.
Terance Mann scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter for Los Angeles, which won for the fourth time in 10 games since Paul George joined Kawhi Leonard on its lengthy injured list.
The Clippers won despite managing a meagre 28 points in the lowest-scoring first half in the NBA this season and then falling behind 59-34 midway through the third period.
Denver scored just seven points in the next 10 minutes, allowing the Clippers to mount their improbable comeback. Los Angeles tied it on Jackson’s jumper with 7:03 to play and went ahead on his three-pointer moments later.
And after the Clippers fell behind again, Jackson brought fans to their feet when he dunked on Nikola Jokic with 4:12 left.
“That game was ugly early,” said Jackson, who missed eight of his first nine shots.
“Most of the game was ugly, the first three quarters. “We just stayed ready, stayed in it. The team stayed in the fight, stayed confident and continued to have success. It just gave me a chance to make some plays, and we stayed calm. It was hard.”
After Jokic got back-to-back buckets to put Denver back on top, Coffey’s three-pointer with 2:30 left pushed the Clippers ahead for good.
Nicolas Batum hit a three on the next possession, and Jokic missed a long three-pointer right before the buzzer – the Nuggets’ 29th miss on 33 attempts from three-point territory.
