Kawhi Leonard went for a team-high 34 points, James Harden led a 3-point barrage with five en route to 26 points, and the Los Angeles Clippers took advantage of an emotionally drained Sacramento Kings team en route to a 131-117 victory Wednesday night in the California capital.
Paul George chipped in with 19 points, Terance Mann 18 and Ivica Zubac 14 for the Clippers, who ran up 72 points while building a 22-point halftime lead before coasting home.
De’Aaron Fox led all scorers with 40 points for the Kings, who celebrated an NBA in-season tournament group win via a one-point thriller over the Golden State Warriors one night earlier.
George and Harden buried consecutive 3-pointers to give Los Angeles the lead for good just past the midpoint of the first quarter after the teams had played evenly for six minutes.
Harden connected from beyond the arc four times in the first period alone as 24 of the Clippers’ points in a 35-27 quarter came on 3-pointers.
The lead eventually reached 25 points, putting the Kings in a big-time catch-up mode for the second straight night. But after erasing all of a 24-point deficit against Golden State, the best Sacramento could do in the encore was to get within 113-100 with still 6:35 to play before a 3-pointer by Leonard helped slam the door.
Leonard finished 14-for-18 from the field on a night when the Clippers shot 53.8 percent as a team. He also found time for a team-high nine rebounds and two blocks.
Harden went 5-for-8 on threes and George 4-for-9, helping the visitors go 14-for-28 as a team. Harden also contributed six assists and five steals while George had seven assists, one fewer than team leader Russell Westbrook.
Zubac added eight rebounds and three blocks for Los Angeles, which completes a road back-to-back Thursday night at Golden State.
Fox’s 40-point game was his second of the season. He had a season-best 43 points in a win at San Antonio earlier this month.
Malik Monk, hero of Tuesday’s win, chipped in with 15 points off the bench while Sasha Vezenkov had 13 and Domantas Sabonis 11.
Kevin Huerter led Sacramento with five assists and also was one of seven Kings with a team-high-tying five rebounds.
–Field Level Media