Los Angeles Lakers @ LA Clippers
Saturday, December 20, 2025 at 10:30 PM ET
Intuit Dome, Inglewood, CA | Game ID: 22500395
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAC 28 26 26 23 103LAL 15 24 22 27 88
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Kawhi Leonard has season-high 32 points as Clippers beat Lakers 103-88 to snap 5-game skid
INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- — Kawhi Leonard scored a season-high 32 points and the slumping Los Angeles Clippers rode their 3-point shooting to a 103-88 victory over LeBron James and the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night, snapping a five-game skid.
Luka Doncic , the NBA's scoring leader, didn't return for the Lakers after halftime because of a lower leg contusion. He had 12 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes after missing his first six shots. Doncic was coming off a triple-double of 45 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists at Utah on Thursday.
James, who turns 41 on Dec. 30, led the Lakers with a season-high 36 points.
James Harden had 21 points and 10 assists for the Clippers. John Collins added 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Clippers were 16 of 43 from 3-point range, with Leonard tying his season high with four, Harden making four and Brook Lopez hitting three off the bench. The Lakers missed 32 3-pointers, with James going 3 of 7, Doncic 1 of 6 and Marcus Smart missing all of his nine attempts.
The Clippers had lost 12 of their last 15 to fall to the bottom of the Western Conference. But they led the entire game and held off a Lakers spurt that cut their lead to seven to open the fourth.
The Lakers got that close with the help of a six-point possession. Kobe Sanders received a flagrant-1 foul on Smart's 3-point attempt. Smart made all three free throws and the Lakers got possession. James scored, got fouled and made the free throw, leaving them trailing 80-73.
The Clippers answered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Collins and Harden to go with Leonard's dunk off James' turnover. The Lakers then ran off six in a row to close to 88-79.
From there, the Clippers closed out just their seventh win of the season.
The Clippers lost Ivica Zubac to a left ankle injury after he scored five points while playing most of the first quarter.
Rui Hachimura missed his first start of the season for the Lakers with a sore groin. He’s expected to be out 3-5 days. The team hopes to get Deandre Ayton (left elbow) and Austin Reaves (left calf) back soon.
Up next Lakers: At Phoenix on Tuesday to end an eight-game trip.
Clippers: Host former MVP Kevin Durant and Houston on Tuesday.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LALAT A. Thiero
DK D. Knecht
DO Doncic
JH J. Hayes
JL J. LaRavia
JV J. Vanderbilt
LD L. Dončić
LJ L. James
MK M. Kleber
MS M. Smart
NS N. Smith Jr.
LACBB B. Bogdanović
BL B. Lopez
BO Bogdanovic
IZ I. Zubac
JC J. Collins
JH J. Harden
KD K. Dunn
KL K. Leonard
KS K. Sanders
NB N. Batum
LAL/LAC 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