The Los Angeles Clippers leaned on a dominant fourth-quarter performance from Kawhi Leonard to secure a 118-101 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night at the Intuit Dome. The win pushed Los Angeles to 12-21 and extended its winning streak to a season-best six games.
Leonard delivered one of the most complete scoring performances of the season, finishing with 45 points on 16-of-29 shooting. He added seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks while calling the shots for long stretches.
The Clippers had to regroup after letting a 21-point lead slip away in the first quarter. Utah fought back behind bench production and physical play in the paint, briefly taking control during a closely contested third period.
Los Angeles opened the game on a 28-7 run as the Jazz missed their first six shots and managed just one rebound in the first six minutes. The early surge looked decisive before Utah stabilized.
Utah finished the first half strong, outscoring the Clippers 33-22 in the second quarter and trailing just 53-50 at the break. Leonard scored nine of Los Angeles’ first points of the period to prevent the momentum from completely reversing.
The third quarter saw six ties, including Utah’s first lead of the night. The Jazz relied heavily on ball movement and interior scoring and finished with 58 points in the paint.
The fourth quarter belonged entirely to Leonard. He was the only Clippers starter on the floor for much of the final period and scored 20 points, matching Utah’s entire performance.
Los Angeles buried the game with seven consecutive three-pointers, four of which came from Leonard. Nicolas Batum added to the run by knocking down four of his six attempts from deep and finished with 14 points.
James Harden added 20 points and seven assists and provided secondary creation when Utah turned on Leonard. The Clippers shot 45 percent from the field and outscored Utah 16-7 in the final stretch.
Utah, playing without Keyonte George, Lauri Markkanen and Jusuf Nurkic, was led by Kyle Anderson’s 22 points off the bench. Brice Sensabaugh scored 20, while Cody Williams added 18 and Isaiah Collier had 16 points and 10 assists.
The Jazz have now lost six of their last eight games and have fallen to 12-21. Los Angeles hosts the Boston Celtics on Saturday, while Utah continues its road trip against the Golden State Warriors.
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