Sacramento Kings @ LA Clippers
Sunday, February 25, 2024 at 9:30 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA | Game ID: 22300827
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAC 28 23 29 27 107SAC 25 33 31 34 123
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Kings beat Clippers 123-107 behind Fox and hand LA back-to-back losses for 1st time since December
LOS ANGELES -- — De’Aaron Fox scored 33 points, Domantas Sabonis had his NBA-leading 20th triple-double and the Sacramento Kings defeated the Clippers 123-107 on Sunday night, sending Los Angeles to its second loss in a row for the first time since late December.
Norman Powell led the Clippers with 21 points in his first start of the season in place of Paul George , who sat out with a sore left knee. Kawhi Leonard added 20 points, as did James Harden , who made all 10 of his free throws to go with eight assists. Los Angeles hadn't lost two straight since Dec. 21 and 23.
The third-place Clippers came out of the All-Star break playing a back-to-back on the road. They returned home for the first time, where they were 20-6, only to lose to a team below them in the West.
“I feel like we’re competing, but we’re just like a step behind. Hopefully we get a rhythm,” Leonard said. “We're a little flat right now, but we got time to pick it up.”
Harrison Barnes added 22 points for the Kings, who won their third in a row. Sabonis finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists, making him one of six players in NBA history with 20 or more triple-doubles in a season.
“I think people kind of become numb to what he’s doing,” Fox said of Sabonis. “Averaging close to a triple-double, that’s a tough thing to do.”
The Clippers cut their deficit to five early in the fourth before the Kings had them down 10. After again rallying to get to 101-96 on Terance Mann 's three-point play, the Clippers soon trailed by 10 again.
“When you’re playing from behind like that, it’s tough,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “One mistake, one wrong play and the lead goes back up. You can't get that far down, especially against a good team.”
Barnes and Davion Mitchell hit consecutive 3-pointers and Barnes scored again, pushing the Kings' lead to 116-100.
“We didn’t give up 30 points in a single quarter,” Fox said. “If you’re guarding that way, you give yourself a chance every single night.”
The Kings ran off 10 straight points to open the third before Barnes' 3-pointer extended their lead to 18 points.
After their early three-minute scoreless stretch, the Clippers outscored the Kings 29-21 the rest of the period to end the third trailing 89-80.
UP NEXT
Kings: Host the Miami Heat on Monday in the second game of a back-to-back.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LACAC A. Coffey
DT D. Theis
IZ I. Zubac
JH J. Harden
KL K. Leonard
NP N. Powell
PT P. Tucker
RW R. Westbrook
TM T. Mann
SACCD C. Duarte
DF D. Fox
DM D. Mitchell
DS D. Sabonis
HB H. Barnes
KH K. Huerter
KM K. Murray
MJ M. Jones
MM M. Monk
TL T. Lyles
LAC/SAC the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur