On a four-game winning streak and getting closer to being fully healthy by the day, the Los Angeles Clippers will test their improved play with a matchup against the visiting Chicago Bulls on Monday at Inglewood, Calif.
Kawhi Leonard scored 19 points Sunday in a 116-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers while matching a season high with 24 minutes in his fifth game of the season after missing the first three months with knee soreness.
“I’m happy with the progress,” said Leonard, who surpassed 14,000 career points. “For me, it’s just about how I’m feeling and I’m coming out of the games feeling great but I still have work to do and we’re going to keep taking each step.”
Against the Bulls, though, the Clippers will revert to their previous look as Leonard takes a maintenance day Monday for his knee. It is a busy week for the team with four games in five days.
With Leonard missing time early in the season, Norman Powell has become the focus of the offense and leads the Clippers with 23.6 points per game after scoring 22 against the Lakers. Ivica Zubac added 21 points with 19 rebounds in his fourth game this season with at least 20 points and 18 rebounds.
“I’m just so proud of our guys for sticking with it and just executing, no matter who’s touching the ball, who’s getting shots,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said. “We just have to keep building and keep stacking days.”
Another Los Angeles player whose status might be in question for a second game in two nights is veteran James Harden, who had 21 points and 12 assists Sunday but played 40 minutes, one off his season high. Harden had been questionable Sunday with an illness.
Harden passed Oscar Robertson for 14th on the all-time scoring list Sunday and now is at 26,721 career points.
The Bulls also played Sunday, falling 113-102 on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers as their losing streak reached five games.
Zach LaVine scored 27 points for Chicago, while Nikola Vucevic had 17 points with 11 rebounds and seven assists. Coby White (nine points, no assists) departed in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury.
The Bulls gave up 19 points on 16 turnovers. Josh Giddey did not have a point in 29 minutes while going scoreless in a game for the first time this season.
A potential trade piece before next month’s deadline, LaVine has averaged 23.7 points with 4.6 assists after dipping to 19.5 points and 3.9 assists last season when he was limited to 25 games by a foot injury that required surgery.
“Whatever he did to evaluate the situation and what happened last year, the surgery and all those things, I’m not privy to, but he kind of took the approach of, âI’ve had a lot of time to reflect,'” Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “And whatever he digested or reflected, he’s been great in the locker room, he’s been great off the court, he’s been great with our guys.”
Chicago was without guard Lonzo Ball because of a right quad contusion and left knee injury management. Ball, a Los Angeles-area native drafted No. 2 overall by the Lakers in 2017, hasn’t played an NBA game in his hometown since November 2021.
