The Los Angeles Clippers Clip Sacramento Kings 101-100 On the Road, Leonard scores 28

The Los Angeles Clippers Clip Sacramento Kings 101-100 On the Road, Leonard scores 28

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.PUBLIC RECORD – 30 –
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“Everybody (in the NBA Western Conference) is fighting to stay alive.’”

– Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden said after his team slipped by the Sacramento Kings by 1 point on the road.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Now it all reaches down to the last game of the regular season for the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers.

In one powerful yet physical game, the Clippers beat the Kings 101-100 to momentarily hang on to the 5th spot ahead of the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference race.

Kawhi Leonard had 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists to lead the Clippers (49-32, 19-21 on the road), winners of 9 of their last 10 games, including 7 straight victories.

James Harden had a triple-double in the form of 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Norman Powell had 16 points, and Derrick Jones added 11 points off the bench for the Clippers.

Zach LaVine had 26 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists for the Kings (39-42, 19-21 at Golden 1 Center), who must win on Sunday against the Phoenix Suns to claim the 9th spot for the Play-In Tournament.

Domantas Sabonis had 19 points, 16 rebounds, and 5 assists, while DeMar DeRozan contributed 16 points and 8 assists. Keegan Murray, Trey Lyles, and Jonas Jonas Valančiūnas each had 9 points.

The Clippers had 7 offensive rebounds out of a total of 30. The Clippers had 4 offensive rebounds in the 4th quarter.

“I mean, we obviously didn’t play a great game, offensively and defensively,” Murray said. “I feel like we fought, we limited them, but unfortunately, at the end, they got a lot of offensive
rebounds.”

Murray’s 3-pointer ended the 1st quarter and gave the Kings a 29-24 lead. The Kings built up a 40-31 lead on a 3-pointer early in the 2nd quarter, but Leonard’s triple with 1 second on the clock gave the Clippers a 50-49 margin at intermission.

Harden’s three put the Clippers up 71-64. The Kings got within 4 points, but the Los Angeles held on to lead 75-70 after 3 quarters of play.

The Kings cut the Clippers’ margin to 82-80 on a 3-point play by Sabonis. After Sacramento head coach Doug Christie was assessed with a technical foul, the Clippers went on a 9-2 run, validated by an alley-oop dunk by Jones to make the score 91-82 with 6:12 remaining in the game.

The Kings fought back to cut the Clippers’ lead 100-101 on 2 free throws by LaVine 3.9 seconds on the clock. On the next play, Murray stole the ball from Harden and then called a timeout with 2.2 seconds remaining.

With 0.4 seconds to go, DeRozan, defended by two Clippers, hoisted up a 28-foot shot that hit the rim to end the game. Both team understands that intensity each game goes up a notch towards the race to the playoffs.

“I think everybody feels like that. We’re on the road in Sacramento, they’re fighting to
stay at nine to have a home court play-in game,” Harden said. “For us, we’re trying to figure out and fight for our lives as well. We knew how intense this game was going to be and we
figured out a way to win.”

With 1 game remaining, the Kings own 9th spot of the Western Conference by way of tiebreaker. The Dallas Mavericks (39-42) beat the Toronto Raptors on Friday. The Mavs play the Memphis Grizzlies on the road in their last game of the season on April 13.

Should the Kings hold the position, they will host the Mavs in the first Play-In Tournament game played at Golden 1 Center.

PA IMPRESSIONS:
Malik Monk
The Clippers had 6 turnovers in the 1st quarter.
The Kings had 10 turnovers in the 1st half.

– Publicity Agents 30 –

ESSENTIAL CONCLUSIONS
Kings: Made 10 of 31 shots behind the arc (32.3%)
Clippers: Made 7 of 21 shots in 3-point territory (33.3%).

SIGNIFICANT JUNCTURES

With his field goal at the 6:29 mark of the 4th quarter tonight, DeMar DeRozan has passed Reggie Miller for 25th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

KEY DATA
The Clippers and Kings had 19 and 18 assists, respectively.

UP NEXT
The Kings play their last regular-season game against the Phoenix Suns on April 13 at G1C. The Clippers play at the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on April 13.

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