Leonard scores 38 to lead Clippers over Knicks

Kawhi Leonard scored 38 points on 14-of-22 shooting from the floor, and Paul George added 22 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as the Los Angeles Clippers handed the visiting New York Knicks their third consecutive loss with a 106-95 win on Saturday.

The Clippers controlled the fourth quarter with a stifling defense, limiting the Knicks to 5-of-18 shooting from the field. Los Angeles capitalized on its stingy defense with effective offense, converting 11-of-18 field-goal attempts.

The 95 points New

York was held to was among the lowest outputs the Clippers have allowed this season and marked the ninth game they kept an opponent to less than 100 points.

For the Knicks, the 95 points were just their fifth time failing to reach 100 points for the season.

While the fourth quarter proved especially trying for the New York offense, the Knicks finished the game shooting just 32-of-90 from the floor overall and a woeful 7-of-31 from beyond the three-point arc.

Immanuel Quickley led the Knicks with 26 points and Julius Randle added 19, but Randle finished 5 of 24 from the field.

Quickley completed a double-double with 10 rebounds. Mitchell Robinson added a game-high 14 rebounds but scored just six points on 2-of-8 shooting in the loss, New York’s second in the first two of four games on a Western Conference swing.

The Knicks opened the road trip with a loss Thursday in Sacramento.

For Los Angeles, the win marked its third in a row and improved the Clippers to 3-0 over their current, five-game homestand.

LATE FRIDAY

Spurs 128, Nuggets 120: Keldon Johnson hit for 23 points and recently acquired Sandro Mamukelashvili scored all 11 of his points in the fourth quarter as host San Antonio beat Western Conference-leading Denver to snap a two-game losing streak.

The Spurs were up by five points heading into the final period and by 123-116 after a threepointer by Mamukelashvili

Awith 2:33 to play.

That seemed to spell the end for the Nuggets tas San Antonio stretched its advantage to a gamehigh 12 points on Devin Vassell’s layup a minute later.

Doug McDermott added 20 points and Jeremy Sochan 19 for San Antonio.

Nikola Jokic led all scorers with 37 points and added 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his NBA-leading 26th triple-double of the season.

It was the first time the Nuggets have lost this year when Jokic had a triple-double.