LA Clippers @ Utah Jazz
Friday, December 8, 2023 at 10:00 PM ET
Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT | Game ID: 22301225
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
UTA 26 20 29 28 103LAC 32 27 29 29 117
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Kawhi Leonard scores season-high 41 points, Clippers beat Jazz 117-103
SALT LAKE CITY -- — Kawhi Leonard scored a season-high 41 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat Utah 117-103 on Friday night to snap an 11-game road losing streak against the Jazz.
Leonard made a season-high 14 field goals in 23 attempts, was 6 of 8 from 3-point range and made all seven of his free throws. He also had five rebounds and five assists.
“I thought he had a good rhythm and his teammates kept looking for him and kept going through him,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “He was able to produce.”
Paul George added 20 points, and Ivica Zubac had 18 points and 12 rebounds. James Harden had 12 points on 2-of-8 shooting.
Los Angeles made 15 3-pointers and shot 44% from 3-point range.
John Collins led Utah with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Talen Horton-Tucker added 16 points and five assists, Keyonte George chipped in 15 points and Walker Kessler had 12 rebounds in his return to the starting lineup.
“I think the team tonight played pretty hard,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “On the offensive side of the ball we tried to play together, we tried to execute, and ultimately struggled to make shots. It put us behind the curve.”
The Jazz never led after the first quarter after struggling with inconsistency on offense.
“A lot of shots weren’t falling,” Collins said. “We felt like we generated a lot of good, open shots and a lot of those weren’t falling either.”
The Jazz trailed by double digits for a large chunk of the second half before scoring on seven straight possessions to spark a rally early in the fourth quarter. Collins led the charge with three baskets, including back-to-back dunks. Utah cut it to 99-93 on Sexton’s jumper with 6:56 left, capping an 18-7 run.
That’s as close as the Jazz got. Leonard made back-to-back baskets and assisted on another to fuel a 12-0 run that gave the Clippers a 111-93 lead with 4:48 remaining.
“We got stops and we made shots,” Leonard said. “Our defense kept us going. We had a steady group and a good mindset to keep moving.”
Leonard put the Clippers in a good spot with a hot start that foreshadowed his dominance over four quarters. He made his first five shots from the field, scoring 14 points, to put Los Angeles up 24-13. Buoyed by Leonard’s offensive efficiency, Los Angeles knocked down 62% of its first quarter field goal attempts.
“Our last two games we had been fighting from behind in those first quarters,” Leonard said. “You got to jump on teams early in their home building and (the Jazz) play very well at home. That was able to get us a little breathing room throughout the whole game.”
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LACIZ I. Zubac
JH J. Harden
KB K. Brown
KL K. Leonard
NP N. Powell
PG P. George
RW R. Westbrook
TM T. Mann
UTACS C. Sexton
JC J. Clarkson
JC J. Collins
KG K. George
KO K. Olynyk
OA O. Agbaji
SF S. Fontecchio
TH T. Hendricks
TH T. Horton-Tucker
WK W. Kessler
LAC/UTA 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