The Los Angeles Clippers won their third game in a row and have won six of their last seven games behind Kawhi Leonard leading the way.
Leonard recorded his second career triple-double with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists as the Clippers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time this season, picking up a 127-116 win on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Clippers (28-14) moved to 18-2 in the last 20 games with Leonard in the lineup while the Lakers suffered its fourth straight road loss, falling to 22-23 on the season.
“Everybody contributed to the win,” Leonard said. “That’s what we got to do, knock down shots when they’re open and tonight we did.”
Related Stories
Crenshaw’s King Peterson Calls Game in Quadruple Overtime Thriller
How C.J. Stroud’s Breakout Rookie Season led the Texans to a Playoff Berth
James Harden finished with 23 points and 10 assists while Paul George, who saw his minutes limited down the stretch due to left groin soreness added 17 points for the Clippers.
“It was something that was reaggravated last game. Just trying to get ahead of it. A little sore, but I was fine,” said George.
LeBron James was unable to play for the Lakers due to left ankle pain. D’Angelo Russell led the way for Los Angeles with 27 points and 10 assists and Anthony Davis finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds.
“He’s just being aggressive… An aggressive D-Lo is good for everybody. We’re gonna continue encouraging him to be aggressive,” said Jarred Vanderbilt, who added 12 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block off the bench.
Austin Reaves had 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting while Rui Hachimura and Taurean Prince added 11 points apiece for the Lakers, respectively.
The Clippers shot 59.1 percent from the field and 51.9 percent from three-point range on 14 makes, also recording 33 assists on the night. The Lakers were 15-22 from the free throw line but held a 41-36 advantage on the glass, grabbing 13 offensive rebounds which led to 18 second-chance points.
“Disappointed in the loss but happy with how our guys competed minus LeBron,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said.
The Clippers held a 35-29 lead after the first period and led by as many as 16, 77-61 with 6.0 seconds remaining after Harden made a step-back jumper just before halftime.
Prince converted a three-point play with 2.0 seconds remaining to cut the Lakers deficit to 77-64 heading into the break.
“Like I told them just now, a lot of good things we did during this game,” Ham said.
Russell scored the Lakers first seven points in the third and got within four, 92-88 after back-to-back threes from him and Reaves with 4:46 remaining. The Clippers, however, closed the period on a 14-9 run to take a 106-97 advantage into the final period.
The Lakers got within two, 110-108 with 7:32 left in the fourth after a Prince jumper but it would not be enough.
Norman Powell scored nine of his 17 points in the final period as the Clippers quickly went on a 9-0 run to take a 119-108 lead with just over five minutes to play and the Lakers were unable to make another late run.
“I thought we stayed poised and did our job to finish the game up,” George said.
“I’m not ever gonna shy away from the competition of trying to compete and gets stops. You tip your cap to them for the made shots and go try to score on the other end,” said Reaves.
The Clippers will next travel to play the Toronto Raptors (16-28) on Friday at 4:30 p.m. to open a seven-game trip.
