Doc Rivers says every play was for Paul George and Kawhi Leonard and feels the star duo "came up big" to make Clippers history against the Timberwolves.
George had 46 points and Leonard added 42 as they became the first Clippers teammates to score over 40 in the same game, helping the team to a 124-117 win in Minneapolis.
The Clippers' run of four straight road victories has arrived at a key time, having previously been 3-6 away from Staples Center. Their latest win took them to 20-7 overall for the season and came without key players Lou Williams (calf) and Patrick Beverley (concussion).
"That was great," Rivers said after Friday's win. "We knew without Lou [that] every play was basically for those two guys. And they came up big."
Kawhi Leonard & Paul George are the only @LAClippers teammates to each score 40+ PTS in the same game! #SAPStatLineOfTheNight pic.twitter.com/aCZyocfvsr
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) December 14, 2019
George was involved the last time two teammates scored over 40, doing it with former Thunder guard Russell Westbrook last season, but knew it was an impressive feat.
"It's special, two guys offensively," George said. "It's great when both guys can get it going. The thing about it is, we're dishing, finding each other, feeding each other. And then when we have moments to be aggressive, we're looking to get aggressive, attack, look for our shots.
"I thought that was a good indication [of what we can do going forward]. Overall, we did a great job of just playing off one another, both looking to score and then finding plays to make our teammates better as well."
Leonard was thrilled with the performance but insisted Clippers wins were more important than he and George replicating their high points totals in future games.
"It's great that we can have somebody else out there to help scoring the ball, making the game easier for myself," Leonard said. "We got into our spots early, made shots. Paul carried us in that second half."
Asked if this was what he envisioned playing with George, Leonard said: "I didn't think that coming into the season. We just want to win a basketball game. If it's me having 10 and him having 40 or vice-versa, or Lou Will is going or Trezz [Montrezl Harrell] or somebody else having a great game, that is what I envision. I just want to envision winning games.
"We're still trying to build our chemistry out there. We didn't close that third quarter too great. We [have] still got to improve."
Season-highs from @Yg_Trece (46 PTS) & Kawhi Leonard (42 PTS) steer the @LAClippers to the win in Minneapolis! #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/3rUg4CpbrC
— NBA (@NBA) December 14, 2019