Hartford Courant (Sunday)

Leonard scores 38, leads Clippers to win over Knicks

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LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard scored 38 points and the Los Angeles Clippers pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 106-95 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday.

Paul George added 22 points for the Clippers, who have won three straight after dropping five straight.

It was Leonard’s seventh straight game with at least 21 points, and he is averaging 31 points during that stretch. He also has four 30-point games during that span.

Immanuel Quickley had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who have dropped three straight after a nine-game winning streak. Quickley started in place of Jalen Brunson, who was sidelined with a sore left foot.

Julius Randle scored 19 despite shooting 5 of 14.

New York had a 74-73 lead late in the third quarter before the Clippers scored nine straight points to take control.

The run started when Randle was assessed a technical foul with 0.3 seconds remaining after he elbowed Clippers center Mason Plumlee in the face while both were going for a rebound.

Leonard tied it by making the technical shot and Plumlee converted the next two free throws to give the Clippers a 76-74 advantage going into the final 12 minutes.

Los Angeles extended their lead to 14 with less than four minutes remaining in the fourth.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said Brunson is day-to-day and X-rays were negative.

Brunson has missed three of the past four games after being injured during a win on March 3 over

Miami.

Tip-ins: Knicks Mitchell Robinson had 14 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end. … Trailed for most of the first half but had a 49-47 lead at halftime after Randle made three free throws with 2.6 seconds remaining after being fouled by Marcus Morris Sr.

Westbrook passed Isiah Thomas for ninth on the NBA’s career assists list. Westbrook has 9,062 during his 15-year career. … George went over 2,000 3-pointers in his career during the second quarter.

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