New York Knicks @ LA Clippers
Monday, March 9, 2026 at 10:00 PM ET
Intuit Dome, Inglewood, CA | Game ID: 22500935
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAC 28 36 24 38 126NYK 24 31 26 37 118
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Leonard powers the Clippers past the Knicks to reach .500 for the first time since November
INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- — Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points, Bennedict Mathurin added 28 points, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the New York Knicks 126-118 on Monday night to climb back to .500 for the first time since early November.
The Clippers are 32-32 and have won five of their first six games in March as they try to improve their potential position in the NBA Play-in Tournament. They began the season in a 6-21 tailspin.
It was Leonard's 42nd straight game with 20-plus points, the second-longest active streak in the NBA and third-longest in team history.
Mathurin scored 22 in the second half off the bench as one of five Clippers in double figures. Darius Garland had 23 points and seven assists in his second start.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knicks with 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting, 12 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out in the final seconds. Jalen Brunson added 28 points and OG Anunoby had 22 points.
Buoyed by chants of “Let's go Knicks!” at Intuit Dome, New York cut its deficit from 15 points with a 17-9 run, including six in a row from Brunson, to go into the fourth trailing 88-81.
The Knicks three times closed within five over the final four minutes. But the Clippers controlled the final two minutes, helped by Mathurin's three-point play and a 3-pointer by Derrick Jones Jr ..
Standing third in the Eastern Conference race, the Knicks split the season series with the Clippers, and have not beaten them in Los Angeles since 2022. New York has dropped three of four.
The Clippers opened the game by making four consecutive 3-pointers and led most of the first half, which ended in a scoring duel between Leonard and Towns. Leonard scored 10 in a row for the Clippers and Towns had eight straight for the Knicks, who trailed 64-55 at the break.
Up next Knicks: Visit the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
Clippers: Host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LACBL B. Lopez
BM B. Mathurin
DG D. Garland
DJ D. Jones Jr.
IJ I. Jackson
JM J. Miller
KD K. Dunn
KL K. Leonard
NB N. Batum
NYKAH A. Hukporti
JA J. Alvarado
JB J. Brunson
JC J. Clarkson
JH J. Hart
KT K. Towns
LS L. Shamet
MB M. Bridges
MD M. Diawara
OA O. Anunoby
TK T. Kolek
LAC/NYK 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