Leonard’s 24 leads the Clippers past the Lakers

The Clippers take down the Lakers in the Battle of LA with Kawhi Leonard leading the charge. Leonard’s 24 leads the Clippers past the Lakers

A highly anticipated matchup between the two teams from the city of Los Angeles. The game would go down to the wire, but it would be the LA Clippers who edged out the Los Angeles Lakers 112–104. This puts the Clippers at 20–24, while the Lakers drop to 26–17.

Clippers past the Lakers: Dominance in the first half

Starting off, it was a familiar matchup between the two opposing stars, Kawhi Leonard and Luka Doncic. This was Leonard’s first game back from his knee contusion injury, and he didn’t miss a beat. Within the first five minutes of the quarter, he scored eight of his 24 points.

Doncic, who leads the league in scoring at 33.7 ppg, also made his mark early, scoring 14 of his 32 points in the first quarter. When Leonard subbed out, it was time for James Harden to come alive.

His playmaking was vital to keeping the Clippers ahead. It was pick‑and‑roll action between him and Ivica Zubac, mixed with finding Kobe Sanders for three‑point looks. Sanders went 3‑for‑3 from beyond the arc in the quarter. Harden finished with 18 points and a game‑high 10 assists.

In the second quarter, LeBron James became more aggressive on the offensive end, looking to attack the Clippers’ mismatches. He did a serviceable job scoring the ball in the non‑Doncic minutes, especially with Lakers guard Austin Reaves inactive.

On the other end, the Clippers took advantage of the Lakers’ zone and man‑to‑man coverages. Leonard began finding his spots against the zone, dishing the ball off to Clippers center Brook Lopez, while also taking advantage of one‑on‑one opportunities against Lakers forwards Jake LaRavia and Rui Hachimura.

Leonard added another efficient eight points in the quarter before being subbed out again. The quarter ended with a 9–3 run for the Clippers, sending them into halftime with a 64–47 lead.

Lakers’ defense got them back in the second half

The Lakers got right back into the game with defense. Adjustments made by JJ Redick, who went small by sitting Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia in favor of Marcus Smart and Jarred Vanderbilt, paid off. They went on a 34–14 run and another 10–0 run toward the last few minutes of the game, with Leonard playing only 26 minutes.

The Clippers were able to hold the fort with strong interior play from Zubac, John Collins, and Jordan Miller.

Zubac dominated inside with a double‑double, scoring 14 points and grabbing a game‑high 19 rebounds.

The most underrated part of the game was the challenge Clippers guard Kris Dunn put on Luka Doncic, holding him below his scoring average and forcing an inefficient 10‑for‑25 from the field. That’s all you can ask for when guarding an All‑World scorer like Doncic.

The Clippers are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now, winning 14 of their last 17 games, and have put themselves in position to be back in the playoff mix. They’ll have a much easier matchup on Sunday versus the Brooklyn Nets, while the Lakers stay on the road to take on the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.