LOS ANGELES >> It took a while, 36 minutes to be exact before the Clippers got it right Saturday afternoon.

After three uncomfortably close quarters, the Clippers refocused and handed the New York Knicks a convincing 106-95 defeat at Crypto.com Arena.

Whether it was a between-quarters pep talk by coach Tyronn Lue or the team not wanting to engage in another drawn-out game, the Clippers (36-33) got rolling in the fourth and came away with their third consecutive victory.

“Well, it feels good to be on the winning streak and just to play well,” Lue said. “Even though we let a few of those games slip away, we knew we had a chance to win, so that’s the toughest part.

“To see us now starting to accumulate the wins and guys being on the same page (it feels good.)”

The difference Saturday was a simple fix. The Clippers began getting stops that had eluded them early on, enabling them to pull away in the final quarter.

The separation began with a layup by Paul George, followed by a jumper by Eric Gordon and punctuated with a dunk by Terance Mann. Suddenly, the Clippers had a six-point lead and Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau called timeout less than two minutes into the fourth quarter.

The pause in play didn’t faze the Clippers. They continued to push the pace, score in transition, make crisp passes and create havoc on defense for the Knicks (39-30) until they built a 97-85 lead with 4:33 left to go. Kawhi Leonard’s 13-foot jumper gave the Clippers their largest lead at 99-85.

“Just getting stops, shrinking the floor, getting out in transition,” George said. “I’ve been speaking on identity all year and I think that’s starting to become our identity. The past three wins, using our length, our speed, our athleticism, get out in transition and get ourselves some easy ones.”

Lue said the reason is even easier to see — the tandem of Leonard and George and the leadership they show on the floor in those situations. It’s helped get the team moving in the right direction.

“I think those two guys, locking into the other teams’ best players and taking that challenge,” Lue said. “And when they’re playing at a high level defensively, we’re a different team.”

Leonard played 37 minutes and led the Clippers with 38 points. George added 22 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in 40 minutes, and Marcus Morris Sr. added 11 points and Gordon had 10 points.

Russell Westbrook said he sees the team taking pride in its ability lately to close out games. Twice, they let games get away from them in overtime periods that were part of their five-game streak.

“Just taking pride, not giving up easily. Making second efforts,” said Westbrook, who finished with seven points, three assists and five rebounds — putting him into ninth place on the all-time NBA assist leaders. “And you saw that down the line, and it shows.”

At times, the Clippers couldn’t get out of their own way in the first half.. Not helping was the lack of scoring from George and Westbrook in the first quarter.

While Westbrook struggled to find any rhythm, George began finding his mark, scoring 13 points in the second quarter, including a 25-footer in the first half for his 2,000th career 3-pointer to become just one of 14 players in the league to reach that milestone.

Leonard added 10 points in the opening half, but it was the combined misses of the two stars that stood out. George and Leonard attempted 23 field goals combined in the first half, making just 11. The bench scoring was also lacking as four players scored just nine points on 10 shots.