HOUSTON (AP) Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points and his three-point play with two seconds remaining lifted the Los Angeles Clippers to a 105-102 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
Leonard, who had 12 rebounds, scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to extend his career-best streak of 20-point games to 33.
The Clippers led by four points when Kevin Durant made one of two free throws before a layup by Alperen Sengun cut the lead to 102-101 with 43 seconds left. Leonard missed a 3-pointer and Jabari Smith Jr. grabbed a rebound to give Houston the ball.
Sengun shot 1 for 2 from the line with 7.2 seconds left to tie it and Leonard got the rebound before the Clippers called a timeout. Leonard then made a fadeaway jumper as he was fouled and hit the free throw to make it 105-102.
Houston had a chance to tie it, but Tari Eason’s shot was off.
Durant led the Rockets with 21 points and Reed Sheppard added 17 points off the bench.
Houston had a two-point lead before the Clippers made five consecutive free throws to make it 98-95 with 2 ½ minutes remaining.
Durant hit a 3-pointer from the corner a few seconds later to tie it before a pair of free throws by Leonard put the Clippers back on top. A dunk by John Collins pushed the lead to 102-98 with about 90 seconds remaining.
The Rockets were up by five before the Clippers scored the next 12 points, with nine from Leonard, to take an 87-80 lead with about eight minutes to go.
Houston got going after that, using a 13-4 run, with seven points from Durant, to take a 93-91 lead with 4 ½ minutes to go.
Houston led by 13 late in the third quarter before the Clippers went on a 12-0 run to cut the lead to 76-75 with 11 minutes left.
Clippers: Host Denver on Thursday, Feb. 19.
Rockets: Visit Charlotte on Thursday, Feb. 19.
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| TOP SCORERS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  |
K. Leonard SF | 27PTS | 12REB | 4AST | |
  |
K. Durant PF | 21PTS | 8REB | 6AST | |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| K. Leonard | 27 | 12 | 4 | 2 |
| K. Dunn | 16 | 2 | 6 | 5 |
| B. Lopez | 15 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| D. Jones Jr. | 12 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| J. Collins | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| B. Mathurin | 16 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| J. Miller | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| K. Sanders | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Y. Konan Niederhauser | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| B. Bogdanovic | – | – | – | – |
| T. Washington Jr. | – | – | – | – |
| C. Christie | – | – | – | – |
| D. Banton | – | – | – | – |
| I. Jackson | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 105 | 32 | 21 | 15 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| K. Durant | 21 | 8 | 6 | 1 |
| A. Sengun | 16 | 9 | 6 | 5 |
| J. Smith | 16 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Eason | 13 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| A. Thompson | 12 | 6 | 5 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| R. Sheppard | 17 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| J. Tate | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| C. Capela | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Okogie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| J. Green | – | – | – | – |
| A. Holiday | – | – | – | – |
| J. Davison | – | – | – | – |
| T. Newton | – | – | – | – |
| I. Crawford | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 102 | 45 | 25 | 17 |