KAWHI SCORES 35, 10,000 FOR CAREER
Freed from the pesky mask he’d been wearing on court for two weeks, Kawhi Leonard cut loose. Getting a steal and a dunk, hitting 3pointer after 3-pointer.
Clippers 130, Bulls 127
He finished with a seasonhigh 35 points, going over 10,000 in his career, and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied to beat the Chicago Bulls 130127 on Sunday in Los Angeles.
“It’s a steppingstone, but I don’t really care about it,” Leonard said of his milestone. “Maybe when I retire I’ll sit back and look at the accomplishments. Right now it’s about being greedy and wanting more.”
Leonard reached the 10,000 plateau on one of his five 3-pointers in the third quarter, when he scored 21 points. His points and 3pointers made were the most in a single quarter in his career.
“He understood how they were guarding him and he took advantage of it,” teammate Paul George said. “He was hot, so we definitely kept finding him.”
Leonard’s last 3-pointer in the quarter gave the Clippers their first lead since they scored the game’s first basket. In all, he had seven 3pointers, tying his career high.
“We needed every bit of it,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.
Leonard had 12 points in the first half, when the Clippers trailed by seven at the break. He got a steal and dunk for his first points of the third, then made five straight 3-pointers before closing out his explosive quarter with a pair of baskets, the last of which tied the game at 87.
For the first time in two weeks, Leonard no longer needs the on-court mask he wore strapped around his head to protect eight stitches in his mouth. He got hit by teammate Serge Ibaka’s elbow at Denver on Christmas.
George had 28 points, seven rebounds and nine assists for the Clippers, who avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season. Lou Williams added 21 points off the bench.
Zach LaVine led six Bulls in double figures with a season-high 45 points — four off his career high — and he made a season-best 10 3pointers.
Thunder 129, Nets 116: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points to lead visiting Oklahoma City over Brooklyn for the fifth straight time. Kevin Durant scored 36 points for Brooklyn after sitting three games after being exposed to COVID-19.
Warriors 106, Raptors 105: Damion Lee converted the tying and go-ahead free throws with 3.3 seconds left and host Golden State withstood a rough fourth quarter to hold off Toronto despite uncharacteristic struggles by Stephen Curry. Curry shot 2 of 16 and missed nine of his 10 3s for 11 points after scoring 143 over his previous four games, including a careerhigh 62 one week earlier against Portland.
Nuggets 114, Knicks 89: Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in another short night, and visiting Denver reached .500 for the first time this season with a victory over New York. Julius Randle had 29 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Knicks.
Jazz 96, Pistons 86: Donovan Mitchell scored 13 of his 28 points in a decisive first quarter, and visiting Utah held on for a victory over Detroit. Utah scored the game’s first nine points and never trailed.
Timberwolves 96, Spurs 88: D’Angelo Russell had 27 points, five rebounds and five assists as host Minnesota snapped a seven-game losing streak with a win over San Antonio while resting big man Karl-Anthony Towns.