NEW YORK – Kawhi Leonard hit the go-ahead jumper with 2min 50sec remaining in the fourth quarter and scored 14 of his 21 points in a game-ending 22-0 run for the Los Angeles Clippers, who stormed back for a 125-114 win over the visiting Brooklyn Nets on Jan 21.
Said Clippers guard James Harden: “It was like a party. The energy was on hundred. That right there is home-court advantage... They came out and punched us in the mouth and in that fourth quarter, we played Clipper basketball, got some stops and the rest is history.”
The Clippers gave up the game’s first 16 points, trailed by 18 three times late in the third and faced a 15-point deficit entering the fourth quarter of the National Basketball Association (NBA) game.
Then they outscored the Nets 41-15 in the final 12 minutes by making 12 of 16 shots, sinking 12 free throws and outrebounding the Nets 14-2.
Leonard shot six of 15 overall on a day when the Clippers struggled to find their rhythm until the fourth. Harden led with 24 points, eight of which came in the fourth, and also handed out 10 assists.
Russell Westbrook kept Los Angeles afloat until the fourth by adding 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Terrance Mann added 13 points and Paul George contributed 12 as the Clippers shot 50.6 per cent at Crypto.com Arena.
Said George: “That was first of a kind, with a slow start and then get red-hot at the end. 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.”
Westbrook added: “We came out and competed all night long. We never gave up. We fought adversity and came out with a win, so I’m really proud of our guys.”
Mikal Bridges scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half for the Nets. Cam Thomas added 20 while Spencer Dinwiddie and Nic Claxton contributed 16 apiece, but the Nets missed their final eight shots and lost for the 10th time in 12 games. On the Clippers’ late surge, Bridges said: “We were stuck, didn’t know what to do or how to break it.”
The Clippers improved to 27-14 and are in fourth spot in the Western Conference. The Nets (17-25) are in 11th in the East.
Over at Kia Centre, Paolo Banchero scored 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, while German forward Franz Wagner added 19 points to lead the Orlando Magic over the visiting Miami Heat 105-87. At 23-20, the Magic pulled within a game of the Heat for eighth in the East.
Meanwhile, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young has been diagnosed with a concussion and entered the league’s concussion protocols. It happened in the fourth quarter of a loss to Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan 20, when he drew a charging foul but took an elbow to the face.
There is no timetable for his return, which depends on him completing the NBA return-to-play recovery process. REUTERS, AFP
