James Harden, Kawhi Leonard lead surging Clippers past Hornets

INGLEWOOD — James Harden didn’t have another wild scoring outburst, but the Clippers guard still left a big impression on the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.

The last time the teams played in November, Harden erupted for a season-high 55 points. This time, Harden overcame a slow start and finished with 32 in a 117-109 victory to move past Lakers great Shaquille O’Neal for ninth place on the NBA’s career scoring list with 28,623 points.

It also was his 109th career game with at least 30 points and 10 assists, which ranks second in the NBA.

And the Clippers needed every single one of his points and Kawhi Leonard’s game-high 35 to continue their march toward a postseason spot.

Three weeks ago, Coach Tyronn Lue told the team that the goal was to finish the rest of its season 30-25 after the team stumbled to a 6-21 start. With Monday’s win, the Clippers (16-23) have responded by winning 10 of their past 12 games. Some have been blowouts, others have been tight contests.

This one was the latter until the final five minutes.

After Tre Mann’s 3-pointer gave Charlotte a 100-99 lead with 7:18 remaining in the fourth quarter, Harden scored eight points during a 15-1 run that gave the Clippers a 13-point lead. Leonard capped the surge with an 11-foot floater with 3:16 left.

The Hornets (14-26) cut the lead to seven with 1:22 left but couldn’t get any closer.

The Hornets were determined to try to limit Harden this time.

“The 55 happened a lot of different ways,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said before the game. “I think one of the biggest things when we went back and watched the film was our inability to really affect Harden. I don’t think he felt us enough.”

Harden felt the pressure early on Monday, making just four of 14 shots for 13 points in the first half, but he stepped up in the second half, scoring 19.

Leonard, playing on a minutes restriction because of a sore right ankle, finished 11 for 19 from the field, which included going 5 for 9 from 3-point range in 31 minutes.

There was some concern about Leonard’s ankle before the game, with the team calling his availability a game-time decision. After his pregame workout, the team said he would play but his minutes would be capped at 30.

Leonard sprained his right ankle when he stepped on a fan’s foot while running down the sideline during a game against the New York Knicks last week but he played against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, scoring 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting (4 for 7 from 3-point range) in 31 minutes.

“He’s feeling it, but we’ll see,” Lue said of Leonard’s ankle after the Knicks game.

Whether it was fatigue from back-to-back games in Brooklyn and Detroit or the long flight home, something was lacking with the Clippers early against the Hornets. They got off to a slow start, none more noticeable than Kris Dunn, who missed all six of his shots on his bobblehead night.

Still, the Clippers managed to take a 45-43 lead into halftime.

Both teams picked up the pace in the third quarter. The Clippers opened their biggest lead of the game at 73-64 on a layup by Harden with 5:29 left in the third quarter. But the Hornets fought back and closed the gap to 77-76 on a reverse layup by LaMelo Ball then tied the score on three free throws by Grant Williams.

Ball, a former Chino Hills High star, finished with a team-high 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Rookie Kon Knueppel had 18 points and five rebounds. Moussa Diabaté had 13 points and 15 rebounds, while Brandon Miller also scored 13 and Miles Bridges added 11.

Jordan Miller added 14 points and Ivica Zubac had nine points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers.

NOTES

Harden, who began the night 14 points behind Shaquille O’Neal’s 28,596 points for ninth, passed the former Lakers center on a 3-pointer early in the third quarter.

More to come on this story.