James Harden scored 21 points with 12 assists, Ivica Zubac added 21 points with 19 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers earned a 116-102 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers in the first game between the teams at Inglewood, Calif., since March 1999.
Norman Powell scored 22 points and Kawhi Leonard 19 in his fifth game of the season as the Clippers won their fourth consecutive game and improved to 15-6 in their new $2 billion arena.
Leonard was 9-of-13 shooting and added four assists while matching a season high with 24 minutes. He missed the first three months with knee soreness. Zubac added three blocks against his former team.
LeBron James scored 25 points with 11 assists and Anthony Davis had 16 points with 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who lost their third consecutive road game and fell for the fourth time in their past six games overall.
Rui Hachimura scored 19 points and Austin Reaves added 14 before leaving late in the game with a knee injury for the Lakers, who previously played at The Forum in Inglewood from 1967-99.
The Clippers led 32-26 after one quarter and took charge by outscoring the Lakers by nine points in the second quarter to take a 64-49 lead into halftime. Powell scored 14 points in the opening half as the Clippers shot 57.8 percent from the floor.
Leonard scored eight points in the third quarter and the Clippers led by as many as 26 points, before the Lakers went on an 11-0 run late in the period to pull within 90-75. The Clippers took a 92-77 advantage into the fourth quarter.
The Lakers were within 96-85 with 8:04 remaining before the Clippers turned a timeout into a 6-0 run and took a 102-85 lead with 6:10 remaining.
The Lakers’ Max Christie matched up against his brother Cam Christie of the Clippers for the first time in an NBA game as they squared off over the final minute. Cam Christie scored one point in his second career game, while Max Christie had 10 points.
–Field Level Media
