LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard had 35 points and 12 rebounds to lead the visiting Los Angeles Clippers to a come-from-behind, 111-106 win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday evening.
Montrezl Harrell scored 18 points off the bench, and Paul George had 17 points on five-for-18 shooting for the Clippers, who are 2-0 against the Lakers this season.
With 3.6 seconds to go and the Clippers up by three, Patrick Beverley blocked a LeBron James 3-point attempt. George then made two free throws to seal the outcome.
Kyle Kuzma scored a season-high 25 points off the bench for the Lakers, who have lost four in a row. They hadn’t dropped consecutive games all season before the current skid. Anthony Davis scored 24 points, and James finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists.
After trailing by as many as 15 in the third quarter, the Clippers pulled even at 86-86 entering the fourth.
James hit a pull-up jumper to give the Lakers a 101-94 lead with 6:39 left, but seven straight points by the Clippers tied the game again.
Leonard twice made two free throws to give the Clippers a four-point lead, the second time with 2:03 left, and the Lakers managed just one point the rest of the way.
The Lakers led by seven twice in the second quarter before an 8-0 run by the Clippers moved them ahead 43-42.
James missed his first seven shots before making a layup with 5:28 left in the second quarter to move the Lakers back ahead 44-43.
Both sides continued to trade leads for the next couple minutes before the Lakers closed on a 17-2 run to take a 63-51 lead into the break.
After trailing by as many as 15 with 9:26 left in the third quarter, the Clippers used a 16-3 run to pull within 71-69 with 6:44 remaining.
Clippers reserve guard Landry Shamet sank a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left to tie the score at 86-86 heading into the fourth.
The Clippers improved to 12-3 this season with George and Leonard in the lineup.
The Clippers beat the Lakers 112-102 in the season opener on Oct. 22, one of three double-digit losses for the Lakers. In that contest, Clippers were without George, who missed the first three weeks of the season while rehabilitating two offseason shoulder injuries.
WARRIORS 116 — ROCKETS 104
Glenn Robinson III and Draymond Green each bombed in a pair of 3-pointers in a late flurry as Golden State rallied to stun Houston in San Francisco.
All five Golden State starters scored in double figures and the Warriors limited Houston to 16-of-51 shooting on 3-point attempts. Damion Lee paced the Warriors with 22 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Green and D’Angelo Russell went for 20 points apiece, Robinson added 18, and Willie Cauley-Stein scored 10. Green grabbed 11 boards.
The Rockets’ Russell Westbrook led all scorers with 30 points, but he shot just 11 of 32 overall and missed all eight of his 3-point attempts as Houston saw a four-game winning streak come to an end.
76ERS 121 — BUCKS 109
Joel Embiid had 31 points and 11 rebounds — his seventh game this season with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds — to lift host Philadelphia past Milwaukee.
Ben Simmons had 15 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds for the Sixers, who won their third in a row and tied a franchise record with 21 made 3-pointers. Tobias Harris scored 22 points and went 5 of 7 from beyond the arc. Josh Richardson added 18 points, Furkan Korkmaz scored 16, and Al Horford had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Khris Middleton led the Bucks with 31 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo added 18 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, but he shot 8-for-27 and missed all seven 3-point attempts. George Hill scored 15 points for Milwaukee.
CELTICS 118 — RAPTORS 102
Jaylen Brown scored 30 points, and Boston ended Toronto’s 34-game home winning streak against Atlantic Division teams.
Kemba Walker added 22 points for the Celtics, who have won four in a row and have captured the first two games between the teams this season. The clubs meet again in Boston on Saturday.
The game was the first Christmas Day home game for the Raptors in their history. Fred VanVleet had 27 points for the Raptors, who have lost two in a row. Chris Boucher added a career-best 24 points, and Kyle Lowry contributed 14 points. — Reuters
