Apr 9, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Kawhi Leonard (2) shoots against Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) in the first half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images James Harden scored 35 points and Ivica Zubac added 20 in his first career triple-double as the Los Angeles Clippers continued their quest for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 134-117 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday at Inglewood, Calif.
Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points with 10 rebounds and Nicolas Batum had 15 for the Clippers before departing at halftime with right groin soreness. Zubac added 11 rebounds and 10 assists while Harden had 10 assists for Los Angeles, which was without Norman Powell (shoulder).
The Clippers (48-32) have the same record as the fourth-place Denver Nuggets, who also won Wednesday, but they are technically fifth because of a tiebreaker. The top four teams in each conference have home-court advantage to open the playoffs.
Reed Sheppard scored 20 points and Jeff Green added 19 for the short-handed Rockets, who rested multiple starters a day after clinching the No. 2 spot in the West. Fred VanVleet (ankle), Alperen Sengun (back), Jabari Smith Jr. (groin), Amen Thompson (rest) and Dillon Brooks (rest) all were out, while Jalen Green (five points) played just 15 minutes.
Tari Eason scored 17 points and Aaron Holiday added 16 for the Rockets (52-28), who entered with 15 victories in their past 17 games and have two more regular-season games remaining before their first playoff appearance in five seasons.
The Clippers were up by as many as 19 points in the third quarter and took a 105-91 lead into the final period before the Rockets closed the gap. Houston opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to pull within 105-99.
Los Angeles responded with a 12-1 run to put the game away, with Leonard and Bogdan Bogdanovic (16 points) each scoring five in the stretch.
The Clippers were up by just four points with five minutes remaining in the second quarter before going on a 12-0 run to take a 64-48 lead with 2:34 remaining before halftime. Los Angeles led 71-58 at the break behind 18 points from Zubac.
–Field Level Media
This news was originally published on this post .
About the author
2025 NFL Draft: Could Browns taking Shedeur Sanders after Dillon Gabriel pan out? Here’s the upside on Cleveland’s surprise strategy
Less than 24 hours after publicly endorsing the talents of Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry faced the media with a similar task Saturday afternoon.Describing another quarterback’s fit and value at the draft spot?AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDrafting high-profile Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders 50 picks after selecting Gabriel warranted explanation.“We talk oftentimes about quarterback being the most important position in the sport,” Berry said. “It wasn’t necessarily the plan going into the weekend to select two quarterbacks, but as we talk about, we do believe in best player available, we do believe position value, and we didn’t necessarily expect him to be available in the fifth round.“It got to a point where he was probably mispriced relative to the draft.”The Browns are taking two swings at rookie quarterbacks in Colorado's Shedeur Sanders and Oregon's Dillon Gabriel. (Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports)Selecting Sanders […]
Teoscar Hernández hits HR in third consecutive game to extend Dodgers’ lead against Marlins
Major League Baseball Video Details Teoscar Hernández hit a home run in third consecutive game that extended the Los Angeles Dodgers' lead to 5-0 against the Miami Marlins. 6 MINS AGO・Major League Baseball・0:30
The Panthers, the bad boys of the NHL, are ‘very comfortable with who they are’
SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers are not only the resident bad boys of the National Hockey League, but they’re also the defending Stanley Cup champions.They illustrated both facts on Monday.Florida threw a couple of flagrantly illegal hits, killed a five-minute major penalty while trailing in the third period, overcame the sobering ruling of a game-tying call being overruled by an offside challenge, tied the game anyway and used a dramatic spurt to push the Lightning to the brink in a 4-2 victory.AdvertisementEverything about this night was a microcosm of why the Panthers have owned the Eastern Conference for the past three seasons and why they appear to have surpassed their bitter rivals for potentially long-term state bragging rights. One more win will do it.This one didn’t feel like it was going to be a Panthers’ win, but then their […]
Cavaliers crush Heat in most lopsided series in NBA playoff history: Historic sweep by the numbers
Getty Images Sometimes, series that end in four games can be closer and more competitive than the word "sweep" suggests. The Cleveland Cavaliers' sweep of the Miami Heat, which concluded with a 138-83 rout on Monday, was not one of those series.Cleveland entered Monday's Game 4 having outscored Miami by 24.9 points per 100 possessions in the first three games of the series. The team had stomped the Heat in Game 3 on Saturday, leading by as many as 40 points in a 124-87 rout. And it proceeded to crush them even more viciously on Monday.The final margin of victory was 55 points, but you should know that the Cavaliers had a 70-25 lead late in the second quarter. You should know that the Cavs led by as many as 60 points in the fourth. They finished the series having […]
WATCH: Tristan Thompson consoles Kevin Love before Cavaliers-Heat Game 4 following his father’s death
Getty Images Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson may have been on opposite sides of Monday night's game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat, but both showed a relationship that transcends the game of basketball. Prior to the tipoff of an eventual 138-83 Cleveland win to finish off a sweep, Thompson was seen consoling Love, who announced his father, Stan, died Sunday at 76 years old.Thompson and Love were teammates in Cleveland for six seasons from 2014-20, a span that included the Cavaliers winning the 2016 NBA championship. They developed a deep friendship during that time together, and it showed Monday."That's my brother, man," Love said back in 2020. "I would always go to war with him. I would run through a wall for him. He's the best. Just the type of guy he is, he's a lifelong friend of mine."Here's a […]
NBA playoffs: Draymond Green narrowly avoids ejection after heated first half with Rockets in Game 4
Draymond Green got into a bit of trouble early on Monday night at the Chase Center.Though he managed to avoid an ejection in the first half of the Golden State Warriors’ Game 4 matchup with the Houston Rockets, he did so just barely after getting into back-to-back altercations.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThings popped off in the first half after Green, Stephen Curry and Dillon Brooks got into an incident that felt like it was a few games in the making.After Green set a hard screen on Amen Thompson, Brooks hip-checked Curry and sent him down to the floor. Curry, taunting a bit, threw up two fingers at Brooks after he was called for a foul. Brooks then tried to grab the ball out of Curry’s hands, which sparked the incident and sent plenty of people rushing in to try and break it all up.In […]
Related
2025 NFL Draft: Could Browns taking Shedeur Sanders after Dillon Gabriel pan out? Here’s the upside on Cleveland’s surprise strategy
Less than 24 hours after publicly endorsing the talents of Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry faced the media with a similar task Saturday afternoon.Describing another quarterback’s fit and value at the draft spot?AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDrafting high-profile Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders 50 picks after selecting Gabriel warranted explanation.“We talk oftentimes about quarterback being the most important position in the sport,” Berry said. “It wasn’t necessarily the plan going into the weekend to select two quarterbacks, but as we talk about, we do believe in best player available, we do believe position value, and we didn’t necessarily expect him to be available in the fifth round.“It got to a point where he was probably mispriced relative to the draft.”The Browns are taking two swings at rookie quarterbacks in Colorado's Shedeur Sanders and Oregon's Dillon Gabriel. (Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports)Selecting Sanders […]
Teoscar Hernández hits HR in third consecutive game to extend Dodgers’ lead against Marlins
Major League Baseball Video Details Teoscar Hernández hit a home run in third consecutive game that extended the Los Angeles Dodgers' lead to 5-0 against the Miami Marlins. 6 MINS AGO・Major League Baseball・0:30
The Panthers, the bad boys of the NHL, are ‘very comfortable with who they are’
SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers are not only the resident bad boys of the National Hockey League, but they’re also the defending Stanley Cup champions.They illustrated both facts on Monday.Florida threw a couple of flagrantly illegal hits, killed a five-minute major penalty while trailing in the third period, overcame the sobering ruling of a game-tying call being overruled by an offside challenge, tied the game anyway and used a dramatic spurt to push the Lightning to the brink in a 4-2 victory.AdvertisementEverything about this night was a microcosm of why the Panthers have owned the Eastern Conference for the past three seasons and why they appear to have surpassed their bitter rivals for potentially long-term state bragging rights. One more win will do it.This one didn’t feel like it was going to be a Panthers’ win, but then their […]
Cavaliers crush Heat in most lopsided series in NBA playoff history: Historic sweep by the numbers
Getty Images Sometimes, series that end in four games can be closer and more competitive than the word "sweep" suggests. The Cleveland Cavaliers' sweep of the Miami Heat, which concluded with a 138-83 rout on Monday, was not one of those series.Cleveland entered Monday's Game 4 having outscored Miami by 24.9 points per 100 possessions in the first three games of the series. The team had stomped the Heat in Game 3 on Saturday, leading by as many as 40 points in a 124-87 rout. And it proceeded to crush them even more viciously on Monday.The final margin of victory was 55 points, but you should know that the Cavaliers had a 70-25 lead late in the second quarter. You should know that the Cavs led by as many as 60 points in the fourth. They finished the series having […]
WATCH: Tristan Thompson consoles Kevin Love before Cavaliers-Heat Game 4 following his father’s death
Getty Images Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson may have been on opposite sides of Monday night's game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat, but both showed a relationship that transcends the game of basketball. Prior to the tipoff of an eventual 138-83 Cleveland win to finish off a sweep, Thompson was seen consoling Love, who announced his father, Stan, died Sunday at 76 years old.Thompson and Love were teammates in Cleveland for six seasons from 2014-20, a span that included the Cavaliers winning the 2016 NBA championship. They developed a deep friendship during that time together, and it showed Monday."That's my brother, man," Love said back in 2020. "I would always go to war with him. I would run through a wall for him. He's the best. Just the type of guy he is, he's a lifelong friend of mine."Here's a […]
NBA playoffs: Draymond Green narrowly avoids ejection after heated first half with Rockets in Game 4
Draymond Green got into a bit of trouble early on Monday night at the Chase Center.Though he managed to avoid an ejection in the first half of the Golden State Warriors’ Game 4 matchup with the Houston Rockets, he did so just barely after getting into back-to-back altercations.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThings popped off in the first half after Green, Stephen Curry and Dillon Brooks got into an incident that felt like it was a few games in the making.After Green set a hard screen on Amen Thompson, Brooks hip-checked Curry and sent him down to the floor. Curry, taunting a bit, threw up two fingers at Brooks after he was called for a foul. Brooks then tried to grab the ball out of Curry’s hands, which sparked the incident and sent plenty of people rushing in to try and break it all up.In […]
Be the first to leave a comment