SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points and the Los Angeles Clippers snapped a two-game skid by beating the Sacramento Kings 138-109 on Sunday night to improve their playoff positioning.
Leonard scored 13 points in the first quarter as the Clippers raced out to a double-digit lead and coasted against a Kings team playing out the string of a lost season.
John Collins added 25 points, and Darius Garland and Kobe Sanders each had 17 for Los Angeles.
The Clippers moved into a tie for eighth place in the Western Conference with Portland with four games to play. The eighth-place team will have two shots to get into the playoffs through the play-in tournament.
Devin Carter scored 21 points and Nique Clifford had 18 to lead Sacramento. Maxime Raynaud had 11 points and 16 rebounds for his 18th double-double of the season, the most among all rookies.
The Kings, who had won their previous two games, remained in a tie with Utah for the fourth-worst record in the NBA at 21-58 with three games left. Sacramento is tied for the third-most losses in franchise history, having lost 59 games in 1989-90 and 65 in 2008-09.
DeMar DeRozan scored nine points in 10 minutes in the first half to give him 26,711 career points, moving past Oscar Robertson (26,710) for 16th place on the NBA list. DeRozan didn’t play at all in the second half.
Up next
Clippers: Host Dallas on Tuesday night.
Kings: Visit Golden State on Tuesday night.
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