Kawhi Leonard, Clippers best Knicks, get back to .500
Kawhi Leonard recorded 29 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers reached .500 for the first time in more than four months with a 126-118 victory over the visiting New York Knicks on Monday night.
Bennedict Mathurin added 28 points and seven rebounds off the bench as Los Angeles evened its record at 32-32. The Clippers were most recently at the break-even mark on Nov. 3 when they fell to the Miami Heat for a 3-3 mark.
Los Angeles bottomed out at 6-21 before making the long climb back.
Darius Garland sank five 3-pointers and had 23 points and seven assists as the Clippers won for the fifth time in six games. Brook Lopez and Derrick Jones Jr. added 16 points apiece for Los Angeles.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting and also had 12 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out for New York.
Jalen Brunson registered 28 points and eight assists, OG Anunoby scored 22 points and Josh Hart had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks, who dropped to 1-2 on a five-game road trip.
The Clippers connected on 46.2% of their shots and were 18 of 39 (46.2%) from 3-point range.
New York made 51.1% of its attempts and hit 14 of 40 (35%) from behind the arc. The Knicks held a 51-36 rebounding advantage.
Mikal Bridges drained a 3-pointer to get New York within 92-86 with 9:50 left in the game.
Garland scored the next five points and Leonard converted a three-point play to finish an 8-2 run that pushed Los Angeles' lead to 100-88 with 8:45 to play.
The Knicks later moved within 109-104 on a 3-pointer by Anunoby with 3:56 remaining. Lopez halted their momentum with a straightaway 3-pointer 17 seconds later.
Hart's three-point play allowed New York to pull within five again with 2:36 left, but Mathurin converted a three-point play to put Los Angeles ahead 115-107 with 2:03 remaining.
Jones added a trey and Leonard made two free throws to give the Clippers an 11-point lead with 1:18 left en route to closing it out.
Towns drained a 30-foot 3-pointer to bring the Knicks within six with 7:31 left in the third quarter.
Leonard scored 21 points in the first half as the Clippers led 64-55. Towns (21) and Brunson (19) combined for 40 New York points in the half.
Los Angeles led 88-81 entering the final quarter.