The surging Los Angeles Clippers were riding a five-game winning streak before falling 106-103 to the Lakers on Sunday evening.
Kawhi Leonard and Clippers coach Tyronn Lue acknowledged the loss could be used as fuel going forward and they wasted no time getting back to their winning ways.
“We gotta just throw that game away and come out next game with a better mindset and try to win,” Leonard said.
Paul George scored a team-high 25 points, James Harden added 19 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists and Ivica Zubac had 19 as the Clippers routed the Phoenix Suns 138-111 on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena.
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“I think after losing that game yesterday [vs Lakers] kind of woke us up,” said Lue. “The way we played defensively I thought was really good tonight. That second half especially.”
The Clippers (23-13) beat the Suns (19-18) for the second time in five days and are 13-1 in the last 14 games when Leonard has played.
Leonard, a two-time NBA champion, finished with 17 points, five steals and one block on 8-of-15 shooting. Harden recorded a double-double for the fifth time in six games.
“They got three Hall of Famers that are really hard to guard,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said. “They got a complete team.”
Kevin Durant tallied 20 of his 30 points in the first half, Devin Booker finished with 20 points and Bradley Beal had 15 points for the Suns.
The Suns dropped its second game in a row after falling 121-115 to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday and have now lost six of their last 11 games but the team still believes they can turn it around.
“I’m confident. I’m confident in everybody in here,” said Booker following the loss.
Los Angeles outrebounded Phoenix 44-25 and outscored the Suns 62-49 percent while making 15 three-pointers on the night.
“I want to be dominant in the paint, I want to protect the rim, I want to grab all the rebounds, I want to finish strong… It’s pretty easy when you got a point guard like [Harden] and [Westbrook],” said Zubac, who also had eight rebounds, one steal and one block, making eight of his nine shots.
George made a contested three-pointer over Booker near the end of regulation to give the Clippers a 34-31 first-quarter lead.
Norman Powell scored five of his 14 points off the bench for Los Angeles in the second quarter and made a jumper with 45 seconds left in the period to take a 71-63 halftime lead.
Phoenix was unable to threaten any closer than seven, 103-96 after Durant converted two free-throws with 10:25 left in the fourth as the Clippers quickly rallied with a 15-0 run of their own to go up 118-96.
Los Angeles went on to lead by as many as 30 before closing out a dominant 138-111 victory.
“Right now we’re playing at a high level and everyone is confident,” Zubac said.
The Clippers will next host the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday before traveling for a two-game road trip to face the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
