James Harden and Kawhi Leonard each scored 29 points as the Los Angeles Clippers finished off a convincing 135-104 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday at Inglewood, Calif.
Ivica Zubac added 25 points with 10 rebounds for the Clippers (46-32), who improved to 11-2 since March 12, while winning 11 of their last 12 home games. The Clippers had a pair of injury scares in the first half, but Norman Powell (thigh) and Derrick Jones Jr. (ankle) remained in the game.
Harden added 14 assists as the Clippers won both games of a back-to-back against the Mavericks. Los Angeles pulled even with both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies while sitting a half game behind the fifth-place Golden State Warriors.
Leonard did not play his first game of the season until early January because of knee discomfort but has shown his productivity of late with an average of 26.2 points over his last 12 contests.
Anthony Davis scored 27 points with nine rebounds in just his seventh game with Dallas after a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers in February. Davis did not play Friday against the Clippers because of injury maintenance on a nagging abdominal injury.
Kai Jones scored 18 points for the Mavericks (38-41) against his former team, while Klay Thompson scored 14 points after he departed Friday’s game with an illness. Dereck Lively II played after he sat out Friday’s game with an ankle injury but scored just two points in 15 minutes.
The Clippers ran away with the game by outscoring the Mavericks 44-30 in the third quarter when Zubac scored 13 points and Harden had 10, while Los Angeles shot 69.2 percent.
The Clippers scored 74 points in the second half to 52 for the Mavericks, who have lost two of their past three games. Dallas is ninth in the West and just percentage points ahead of the 10th-place Sacramento Kings, who hold the final play-in spot in the conference.
The Clippers were in control throughout, leading 33-21 after the opening period. Los Angeles had a 61-52 lead at halftime behind 19 points from Harden.
–Field Level Media
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