HOUSTON — Spinning through the paint with Amen Thompson shadowing and Jae’Sean Tate closing quickly, LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard drained a 13-foot turnaround fadeaway as part of a three-point play with 2 seconds left Wednesday night to lift his team to a 105-102 victory over the Houston Rockets.
“Tried to get something going left, saw a double-team,” Leonard said. “So I spun and just got to a spot and shot over the top.”
Tate was whistled for a foul on the play, and Leonard sank the subsequent free throw to finish with a game-high 27 points, including 19 in the final frame of a game the Clippers trailed by as many as 15 points. The performance marked Leonard’s 33rd consecutive 20-point contest, the third-longest streak within a season and fourth-longest streak overall in Clippers’ history, according to ESPN Research.
Leonard has scored 15 or more in the fourth quarter five times this season, second most in the NBA behind Donovan Mitchell (eight).
“He’s a shotmaker,” Rockets forward Kevin Durant said. “He can make shots from all over the floor. Then they’re missing a couple of guys, so they’re playing through him the majority of the night. He’s just patient out there, one of the greatest of all time. You’ve got to be worried about a guy like that all game.”
The Clippers rebounded from a Tuesday loss to the Rockets on the second night of a back-to-back and improved their record to 20-7 since Dec. 20, the best record in the NBA over that span. Leonard’s winning bucket pushed the Clippers’ record to 7-0 over that span in clutch time.
“Give him the ball and get out of the way,” Clippers guard Kris Dunn said of Leonard. “Get ready for defense, honestly. He’s one of the best to get to a spot. He knows his spot. Once he gets going, it’s just him and the basket, honestly.”
Houston appeared poised to run away with the game early, taking a 15-point lead with 1:27 left in the second quarter on a Durant fadeaway jumper. Through the first three quarters, Leonard had shot 3-of-10 from the field with eight points and four turnovers, as Houston constantly blitzed and double-teamed him.
“I didn’t even know,” Leonard said about his poor shooting over the first three quarters. “That’s a part of it. You’ve got to keep shooting the basketball no matter what it is. That’s what I did. I don’t care about makes or misses. I’m going to try to keep shooting and win the game.”
Leonard certainly did that, starting the final frame hitting his first four shots and connecting on a pair of free throws. A Leonard finger roll with 9:23 left gave the Clippers their first lead of the second half. Leonard finally missed his first shot of the quarter with 6:55 remaining and the Clippers leading 89-82.
After starting the season with a 16-3 record at home, the Rockets are 2-4 in their past six games at Toyota Center. Houston committed 21 turnovers, which LA turned into 23 points. Durant tied a season high with eight turnovers.
“I feel like they’re selling out to stop some of my actions when I get it, especially in the pick-and-roll,” Durant said. “I’ve never seen this. When the guys in the corner with me and Alpi [Alperen Sengun] in the pick-and-roll, they are leaving their guys in the corner and running so they’re basically an extra man guarding the pick-and-roll. They were trying to steal those pocket passes to Alpi. They trapped me so heavy up top. So sometimes I’m not seeing this third guy coming over there and getting the steal. Usually that pass is open. Then, boom, steal.”
