LA Clippers

The walk to the sidelines at the 6:34 mark of the third period left the L.A. Clippers face-to-face with plenty of reasons to simply try again tomorrow. At eye level was a muted home crowd, understandably stunned by the 26-point deficit the Cleveland Cavaliers had opened; off to the side was their six-time All-Star, in street clothes and hopeful to recover for more high-stakes basketball; in the future stood the 2024 NBA Playoffs, only 16 days away. Instead, with one big shot after another over the final quarter-and-a-half, Los Angeles left itself focused on just one thing: history. Turbocharged by the heroics of Paul George — who doused the Cavaliers for 23 of his 39 in the final period, outscoring them by his lonesome — the Clippers ran off their franchise history’s third-largest come-from-behind victory on April 7, 2024. Urged to showcase their postseason-type focus two weeks early, the Clippers’ supporting cast also took turns donning the mask of Robin, ending Cleveland’s rough five-game road trip with a most-forceful bump in its finale. George’s highlight-packed, near-triple-double performance helped stabilize the Clippers’ ultimately-successful goal of earning the Western Conference’s No. 4 seed, and thus, home court advantage