Paul George, Kawhi Leonard lead Clippers over Nuggets, clinch No. 2 seed

Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Paul George and Kawhi Leonard carried the Los Angeles Clippers to a win over the Denver Nuggets in a seeding game to clinch the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

George scored a game-high 27 points in the 124-111 win Wednesday in Orlando, Fla. Leonard had 26 points and five rebounds in the triumph. Jerami Grant led the Nuggets with 25 points off the bench.

"Most importantly, we just want to play well," George told reporters. "We want to get ready and get into playoff mode.

"Seeding doesn't really mean anything in this bubble. For us it's just about the small things, building habits and gaining steam going into the playoffs."

The Clippers (48-23) will battle the No. 7 seed Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2020 playoffs next week in the league's bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex inside Walt Disney World Resort.

The Nuggets (46-26) own the No. 3 seed and will face the No. 6 Utah Jazz in the first round next week in Orlando.

"I'm just happy we were able to make it to the playoffs," Leonard said. "Right now it doesn't seem like seeds matter, but it's a great accomplishment after them being the No. 8 seed last year."

Leonard scored eight points to lead the Clippers to a 26-25 lead in the first quarter. The Nuggets responded and outscored the Clippers 33-24 in the second quarter to take a 58-50 lead at the break.

The Clippers bounced back to outscore the Nuggets 40-34 in the third quarter, paced by 11 points from George, but still trailed 92-90 at the start of the final frame.

The Clippers used a 9-0 run to take a 100-94 lead with 8:13 to go and never trailed again. George and Patrick Patterson chipped in eight points apiece down the stretch to secure the victory.

Ivan Zubac scored 15 points and had 12 rebounds for the Clippers. Lou Williams had 23 points and seven assists in the win. Nikola Jokic scored 17 points and had 13 assists and seven rebounds for Denver.

"They turned up the pressure," Nuggets coach Mike Malone said. "They got into us and took us out of our offense. They got whatever they wanted."

The Clippers face the Oklahoma City Thunder in their final seeding game at 6:30 p.m. EDT Friday in Orlando. The Nuggets battle the Toronto Raptors at 1:30 p.m. EDT Friday in the bubble.

The NBA playoffs start Monday.