Kawhi Leonard, Paul George help Clippers hold off Raptors
LOS ANGELES — It was the kind of play Clippers fans wanted and the team needed. Much to the delight of the Crypto.com Arena crowd, James Harden connected with Kawhi Leonard on a high-flying alley-oop pass that gave the Clippers a slim third-quarter lead.
While the excitement was brief, the basket was characteristic of the kind of night the Clippers and their fans have come to expect from Leonard, who signed a three-year, $152.4 million contract extension earlier in the day.
After his showy dunk, Leonard took a more workmanlike approach, pushing his team to a 126-120 victory against the Toronto Raptors.
The Clippers (24-13) needed everything they could get from Leonard and fellow All-Star Paul George, who combined for 58 points in securing their seventh victory in their past eight games and their fifth in a row at home. They have won 21 of their past 27 games overall.
Leonard finished with 29 points, three rebounds and seven assists, while George scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to go with seven rebounds and six assists. It was the fifth time this season that George and Leonard both scored at least 25 points in the same game.
James Harden (14 points, 11 assists) and Ivica Zubac (12 points, 11 rebounds) both had double-doubles as the Clippers improved to an NBA-best 16-3 since Dec. 1.
It already had been a newsworthy day for Leonard, who earlier in the day inked the deal that keeps him with the team through the 2026-27 season. His latest showing was another reason the Clippers are happy to have locked him in for the next three seasons.
After a blowout victory against the Phoenix Suns two nights earlier, the Clippers found themselves in a battle of wills against the fired-up Raptors. Toronto came into the game looking for retribution after losing a controversial game to the Lakers the previous night.
The Clippers trailed 92-89 with 28 seconds remaining in the third quarter before they went on a 22-9 run over a five-minute span during the third and fourth quarters. George had seven points during the run.
The Clippers led 111-101 with 6:40 left and 119-108 with 3:13 remaining, but the Raptors didn’t back down, using a 7-0 run to get within 119-115 with 1:28 left. Leonard then buried a 3-pointer to give the Clippers a 121-115 lead.
After the Raptors’ Thaddeus Young completed a three-point play, George landed a 3-pointer to give the Clippers a 124-118 lead with 36 seconds left. The Raptors (15-24) couldn’t catch them at that point.
Raptors coach Darko Rajaković fumed about the free-throw disparity after their loss to the Lakers.
Free throws weren’t an issue in this game with the foul call evenly distributed. The Clippers, though, made the most of their trips to the line, making all 13 of their attempts. Leonard was 7 for 7 from the line.
After playing the entire first quarter and scoring nine points, Leonard re-entered the game midway through the second and buried a quick 3-pointer. He had 16 points by halftime as the Clippers led 58-57.
Despite the lift that Leonard gave them in the latter minutes of the first half, the Clippers couldn’t shake the Raptors, who were without star forward Pascal Siakam, ruled out shortly before the game because of back spasms. Siakam, who is averaging 22.2 points per game, had scored 25 points in the previous night’s loss.
Toronto, however, had plenty of other scorers step up in his absence. Immanuel Quickley scored a team-high 25 points, while RJ Barrett had 24 and Dennis Schröder had 22.
More to come on this story.