Kawhi Leonard's 26-Point Night Pushed the Clippers Into 8th and Portland Should Be Worried About Friday
The LA Clippers just moved into the eighth spot in the Western Conference standings, and they did it by absolutely dismantling the Sacramento Kings 138-109 on Sunday. Kawhi Leonard led the way with 26 points, and John Collins chipped in 25 off the bench. This wasn't even close. The Clippers are now 40-38 on the season, and they own the tiebreaker over Portland by winning two of three matchups between the teams. Both teams have identical records, but Los Angeles gets the nod for that crucial eighth seed right now.
A First Quarter That Set the Tone
Sacramento never recovered from what the Clippers did early. Los Angeles came out scorching with 42 points in the opening quarter and pushed their halftime lead to 71-59, shooting 56.5% from the field over the first two quarters. The Kings were already dead by halftime. LA kept rolling, stretching their advantage to as much as 19 points in the first half, then busting out a 20-point lead with 7:53 left in the third quarter. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Clippers led 107-79 and cruised home without any drama.
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Kawhi extended his franchise-record streak to 54 consecutive 20-point games. Darius Garland and Kobe Sanders each scored 17, while Kris Dunn added 13 in his first start over the last eight games. John Collins came off the bench after starting the previous nine contests. The Clippers finished the night shooting 53.3% from the floor and a lethal 20-of-41 from three-point range. Meanwhile, Sacramento's Devin Carter had 21 points and Nique Clifford added 18, but it wasn't enough. Maxime Raynaud pulled down 15 rebounds along with 11 points for the Kings, who fell to 21-58.
The Clippers snapped a two-game losing streak with this one and now own four consecutive road wins. They head to Portland on Friday to face the Trail Blazers, and that game just became massive. The seventh and eighth seeds face off in the play-in tournament, so there's real playoff positioning at stake right here in early April.
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