Kawhi Leonard of the LA Clippers dribbles past Corey Kispert of the Washington Wizards during second half at Capital One Arena on January 31, 2024 in Washington, DC. | Patrick Smith/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON — Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, James Harden added 25 and the Los Angeles Clippers pulled away with a big third quarter to beat the Washington Wizards 125-109 on Wednesday night.
Los Angeles outscored Washington 40-19 in the third after leading by 10 in the first half.
Harden’s pullup 3 from the top of the arc stretched the lead to 20 for the first time with 5:42 left in the period. Later, Leonard’s emphatic dunk off a driving, spinning feed from Russell Westbrook pushed it 25, and Norman Powell’s basket made it 106-79 at the end of the third.
Leonard and Harden each had nine rebounds. And Harden hit five 3-pointers to help the Clippers snap out of a long-range shooting slump on a night they rested eight-time All-Star Paul George because of groin soreness.
Kyle Kuzma scored 23 of his 27 points the first half for Washington. The Wizards are 2-2 under interim coach Brian Keefe after Wes Unseld Jr. was fired last week.
CAVALIERS 128, PISTONS 121
Donovan Mitchell scored 20 of his 45 points in the fourth quarter, Darius Garland had 19 points in his return from a broken jaw and Cleveland held off NBA-worst Detroit.
Jarrett Allen had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Isaac Okoro added 14 points. Cleveland won for the 11th time in 12 games and is an NBA-best 16-4 since Dec. 16.
Danilo Gallinari scored 20 points and went 4 of 4 on 3-pointers, and Cade Cunningham had 19 points and seven assists for Detroit, which was seeking its first back-to-back wins since Oct. 27-28. The Pistons are 6-41.
BULLS 117, HORNETS 110
Coby White scored 35 points, Nikola Vucevic had 22 points and 12 rebounds and Chicago sent Charlotte to its fifth straight loss.
Ayo Dosunmu added 16 points for Chicago.
Miles Bridges had 30 points and 15 rebounds for Charlotte.
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