The Los Angeles Clippers played their first game in five days, looking nothing like the team that had won 18 of its last 22 games.
Falling behind 16-0 to start the game, Los Angeles proved yet again how dynamic of a roster it has after struggling for three quarters.
Kawhi Leonard caught fire late, scoring 14 of his 21 points in the final five minutes of the fourth and the Clippers rallied back from an 18-point deficit while ending the game on a 22-0 run to defeat the Brooklyn Nets 125-114 on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
“He finally caught his rhythm,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said on Leonard. “He’d been under the weather and wasn’t able to practice yesterday and we didn’t know if he was going to be able to go today.”
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“To put 125 [points] on the board with a slow start, this team has endless possibilities of what it can do,” said Paul George, who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Leonard and George combined for 6 of 26 shooting before Leonard took over in the fourth; James Harden and Russell Westbrook were also relied on late to complete the comeback.
Harden finished with 24 points and 10 assists while Westbrook added 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists off the bench for the Clippers (27-14).
“All the small things that need to be done, I’ll do it to win basketball games,” Westbrook said.
Mikal Bridges scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half and Cam Thomas had 20 points and six assists off the bench for the Nets (17-25).
“Just got to be better for the whole 48,” Bridges said. “Definitely not fun.”
The Clippers used an 18-2 run to tie the game at 18-18 after Terance Mann converted a three-point play less than three minutes into the first period. Brooklyn went on to lead 61-49 at halftime and 99-84 through three quarters.
“Earlier in the game, they were coming at us,” Westbrook said. “And then the fourth quarter, I thought we were the aggressors. Did a great job of being aggressive offensively and defensively. Attacking using our size, getting to the paint, making the right reads. And, as you seen, it changed the whole momentum of the game.”
Los Angeles clicked on all cylinders in the fourth as the Clippers outscored the Nets 41-15.
Brooklyn led 114-103 after Bridges converted a jump shot with 5:33 remaining and they were held scoreless from that point as the Clippers closed the game on a 22-0 run.
“They came out, punched us in the mouth. That fourth quarter, we played Clipper basketball,” Harden said.
“That was first of a kind, with a slow start and then get red-hot at the end,” George said. “We’re going to always compete to the very end. Great thing about this group is we don’t ever believe that we’re down and out of it.”
