Kawhi Leonard scored 28 points and James Harden added 21 points, 10 assists and three blocked shots to help the Los Angeles Clippers post a 114-98 victory over the visiting New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night.
Ivica Zubac recorded 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Clippers, who won for the 12th time in the past 15 games. Bogdan Bogdanovic made four 3-pointers while scoring 16 points for Los Angeles in the opener of a five-game homestand.
Leonard scored 20 or more points for the 10th straight game as the Clippers (44-32) pulled into a three-way tie with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies for the sixth best record in the Western Conference. The fifth-place Golden State Warriors (44-31) are just a half-game ahead of the trio.
Jose Alvarado had 17 points and 10 assists and Bruce Brown added 16 points as the injury-ravaged Pelicans (21-55) lost for the 11th time in the past 15 games. Kelly Olynyk had 12 points, Antonio Reeves scored 11 and Jamal Cain and Karlo Matkovic added 10 each.
New Orleans shot 50.6 percent from the field, but was a shaky 4 of 22 from behind the arc.
Kris Dunn and Norman Powell had 11 points apiece for Los Angeles, which shot 52.6 percent from the field and made 13 of 32 from 3-point range. Leonard and Dunn each made three 3-pointers.
The Pelicans trailed by 12 at halftime but opened up the third quarter with a 10-3 run to move within 62-57 on a basket by Olynyk with 9:40 remaining.
Bogdanovic swished a 3-pointer as part of six straight Los Angeles points as the Clippers went up 83-70 before Elfrid Payton’s floater pulled New Orleans within 11 with 29.3 seconds left in the quarter.
Bogdanovic buried two treys in 66 seconds early in the fourth quarter as Los Angeles increased its lead to 91-76.
Bogdanovic knocked down his final 3-pointer to make it 103-88 with 5:19 left to play. Zubac scored the next four points to push the Los Angeles lead to 19 with 4:01 remaining.
A 3-pointer by Leonard made it 110-90 with 3:25 left and the Clippers closed it out.
Leonard scored 18 points and Harden added 14 in the first half as the Clippers led 59-47 at the break. Alvarado had 10 first-half points for the Pelicans.
