Los Angeles Clippers defeat Sacramento Kings 131-117: Kawhi Leonard scores 34 points in Clippers' victory

2023-11-30 08:08:42

The Kings found themselves facing another big deficit 24 hours after mounting a huge comeback against the Golden State Warriors, but this time there was no fourth-quarter resurgence.

Kawhi Leonard scored 34 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 131-117 victory over the Kings before a sellout crowd of 17,829 on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center.

De’Aaron Fox scored 40 points to lead the Kings (10-7), but he couldn’t carry a weary team on the second night of a back-to-back. Fox produced his second 40-point game of the season less than two weeks after scoring 43 in a win over the San Antonio Spurs.

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James Harden had 26 points for the Clippers (8-9), who shot 53.8% from the field and made 14 of 28 (.500) from 3-point range. Paul George added 19 points.

Malik Monk came off the bench to score 15 points for Sacramento. Sasha Vezenkov had 13 while Domantas Sabonis was held to 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting with five rebounds and three assists.

Five minutes into the game, the Kings and Clippers were tied at 6-6 after combing to go 4 of 19 from the field. The Clippers soon started knocking down shots, thanks in large part to Harden, who went 6 of 8 from the field and 4 of 5 from 3-point range while scoring 17 points in the opening period.

The Clippers 35-27 at the end of the first quarter. The Kings cut the deficit to six on a 3-pointer by Davion Mitchell with 7:01 remaining, but the Clippers ended the half with a 12-0 run to take a 72-50 lead into the break.

In search of a spark, Kings coach Mike Brown started Vezenkov in place of Chris Duarte in the second half. Vezenkov played well, but the Los Angeles lead continued to grow.

The Clippers went up by 25 points in the third quarter and carried a 102-81 lead into the fourth. The Kings staged a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 13 on a 3-pointer by Monk with 6:35 to play, but they couldn’t get any closer.

Tired legs

The Kings faced the Clippers on the second night of a back-to-back after expending a lot of energy while overcoming a 24-point deficit to beat the Warriors 124-123 in an in-season tournament game Tuesday.

Brown hoped his team would benefit from its depth and the fact that several of his reserves played extended minutes in recent weeks due to injuries.

“If guys get an opportunity to play throughout the course of the year, it’s easier to use your depth,” Brown said. “A guy like Foxy played 40 minutes last night. I’m sure other guys played heavy minutes or more minutes than they’re used to as well. When you have a team waiting on you, you tend to go into your bench a little further and maybe even a little longer if your guys are looking tired.

“So having a guy like Kessler (Edwards), he had big minutes against a guy like Anthony Edwards in Minnesota, and being able to throw Sasha out there versus a team like Golden State, and even throwing a guy like Keon (Ellis) out there a little bit. That should bode well or at least help us tonight to be able to know that if we need to, we can go a little further into our bench because guys are ready to play because they’ve had a taste of it. They haven’t just been sitting there for 10 or 12 straight games.”

Missing Murray

Kings forward Keegan Murray missed his fourth consecutive game with a back injury that is being described as sacroiliac (SI) joint irritation.

Murray suffered the injury in a Nov. 19 win over the Dallas Mavericks. He finished the game that night but left at halftime the next night when the Kings visited the New Orleans Pelicans.

Murray seemed to be nearing a return earlier this week after going through a full-contact practice Monday, but he was ruled out for Tuesday’s game against the Golden State Warriors and Wednesday’s game against the Clippers.

“I think we’re just trying to be cautious with him as much as possible,” Brown said. “… But for us, whether he’s out, Fox is out, this guy’s out, that guy’s out, it’s more about next guy stepping up and it gives guys an opportunity to be in different roles that they may not have had an opportunity to be in if everybody was healthy. We still have to try to find a way to win games and that’s what it comes down to in this league. People don’t feel sorry for you if you’re missing guys.”Up next

The Kings will have two days off before facing the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Saturday at Golden 1 Center.

Denver was coming off back-to-back wins over the San Antonio Spurs and Clippers going into Wednesday’s game against the Houston Rockets. The Nuggets will visit the Phoenix Suns on Friday before coming to Sacramento on the second night of a back-to-back.

Denver is led by two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who is averaging 28.8 points, 13.4 rebounds and 8.9 assists. Michael Porter Jr. is averaging 16.9 points and 7.8 rebounds. Jamal Murraywho is averaging 16.3 points and 7.4 assists, returned to the lineup Wednesday after missing nearly a month with a hamstring injury.