The Clippers needed everything Paul George gave them – and more.

Especially against DeMar DeRozan, who hit the Clippers with a season-high 50 points on Thursday night, when the Clippers stumbled to a 135-130 overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls before a sellout crowd of 21,519 fans at United Center.

It was the first time DeRozan – a former Compton High and USC star – scored so many since Jan. 1, 2018.

He shot 17 for 26 from the field Thursday, including 2 for 2 from 3-point range and 14 for 15 from the free-throw line to eclipse his impressive 35-point effort against the Clippers in their only other meeting this season, a 100-90 Bulls victory in November in L.A.

Despite DeRozan’s heroics, the Clippers’ benefited from the Lakers’ loss against Utah, which secured a play-in berth for Coach Tyronn Lue’s team, which is now, at 37-40, locked into no worse than a 10th-place finish in the Western Conference standings.

The Clippers could have done it themselves, but unfortunately for them, George – on a medically prescribed work limit – maxed out his minutes at 32 in regulation, leaving his squad to forge on without him for five frustrating extra minutes.

The Clippers were outscored 17-12 in overtime, falling to 0-4 in OT this season.

“It’s unfortunate not to be able to have our best player in Paul out there, a guy who draws so much attention,” said Reggie Jackson, who scored a team-high 34 points, two shy of his season high. “It just sucks that we felt like we had and we let it slip.”

The Clippers will be haunted by some costly late-game mental miscues after coughing up a 16-point lead Thursday – two days after rallying from 25 points down to defeat Utah in George’s first game back following a 43-game absence because of a torn ligament in his right elbow.

Against Chicago, the Clippers led 118-115 with seven seconds left in regulation when Terance Mann fouled DeRozan before Alex Caruso inbounded the ball, sending DeRozan to the line for a free throw and giving the Bulls back possession too.

DeRozan made the foul shot, cutting the lead to 118-116, and then he launched a 3-pointer that was off the mark – but George fouled him on the attempt, sending Chicago’s star right back to the line for three more free throws with just 3.5 seconds remaining.

He made his first two of three to tie it at 118-118, forcing overtime – during which he scored another 10 points to seal the victory.

“I just wanted to win this game badly,” DeRozan told reporters after the victory, which keeps the Bulls in fifth in the Eastern Conference, a half-game ahead of Toronto. “You see how tight the race is … every game is extremely important. No more room to drop any more games, that’s just the mentality.”

In OT, Luke Kennard’s 3-pointer from the top of the arc cut the Bulls’ lead to 126-125, but Patrick Williams’ 3-pointer from the corner gave the hosts – who had been chasing stubbornly all game – a bit of breathing room with 58 seconds left.

Jackson hit two free throws for the Clippers to get the Clippers within 129-127, but DeRozan drew a foul on Jackson – determined by the officials to be a shooting foul – for his 45th and 46th points of the game.

Jackson missed a tough layup and DeRozan sauntered back to the free-throw line, where he added to his total and put the game out of reach, despite Jackson’s 3-pointer with five seconds left.

In his second game back on Thursday, George finished with 22 points four rebounds, five assists and three steals. He shot 7 for 20, including going 2 for 9 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 from the free-throw line – not as efficient as his first game back but still, his presence helped free up his friends and helping the Clippers shoot 50% (45 for 90) from the field for the first time in nine games.

“Just got to play through the game, continue to play the right way throughout the course of the game,” Lue said.

Jackson concurred: “It’s just about us being locked in for all 48, whether we’re up or down, us just continuing to play the right way, the Clippers’ brand of basketball and it’ll lead us to wins and lead us to where we want to be.”

The Bulls took advantage of their guests’ lapses Thursday to improve to 45-32 overall and 27-10 at home, although it was just the fifth time the Clippers have lost in Chicago since 2000.

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Marcus Morris Sr. added 20, Nicolas Batum had 17 and Ivica Zubac and Kennard both had 11 in the loss.

Chicago played without guard Lonzo Ball (knee).

After welcoming back George on Tuesday after 43 games away, the Clippers remain without All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard (knee), as well as Norman Powell, Jason Preston, Jay Scrubb, all with foot injuries.

Lue wouldn’t say whether George would play Friday on the second night of the back-to-back set, when the Clippers play their final regular-season road game in Milwaukee against the defending champion Bucks (48-28) before returning home for four games.