In the last five minutes of Game 4, two former Brooklyn Nets teammates had a scoring duel. James Harden won.
JAMES HARDEN HUGE BUCKET DOWN THE STRETCH ‼️
— NBA (@NBA) April 28, 2024
13 PTS IN THE 4Q... 31 IN THE GAME
CLIPPERS UP 6 WITH 26.3 TO GO ON ABC pic.twitter.com/XYYRToQUYb
Harden scored 13 of his 33 points in the final five minutes of the game as the Clippers held on to tie their first-round series with the Dallas Mavericks, 2-2.
He did his damage from float range, nailing five shots from five-to-10 feet of the basket, including a huge and-one to give the Clippers a late two-possession lead.
HARDEN TO THE BUCKET + THE FOUL
— NBA (@NBA) April 28, 2024
CLIPPERS BACK UP 4... 70 SECONDS REMAINING ON ABC pic.twitter.com/MvWg1HYiAA
At the same time, Kyrie Irving, who helped recruit Harden to join him and Kevin Durant on the Nets, caught fire down the stretch as well. He scored 40 points in the game, with 14 coming in the fourth quarter and nine of them in the final five minutes.
KYRIE BACK-TO-BACK BUCKETS IN THE 4Q
— NBA (@NBA) April 28, 2024
MAVS TAKE A 1-POINT LEAD ‼️
UNDER 3 MINUTES TO GO ON ABC pic.twitter.com/CTuLfdDxpC
Ultimately The Beard was too much for Uncle Drew, with Harden and George combining for 66 points, nearly matching Doncic and Irving's 69 combined.
But even with the Clippers' short bench with Kawhi Leonard out, Los Angeles got 22 bench points to Dallas' 13. And bigger than that, they got more from their old Net than Dallas did at the biggest moment.
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