Kawhi Leonard did just about everything on Sunday night to get the Los Angeles Clippers to a fourth straight win.
Leonard dropped a career-high 55 points while leading the Clippers to a 112-99 win over the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons at the Intuit Dome on Sunday. He had all but four of those points in the first three quarters, too, and had 11 rebounds to go with it. Leonard’s 55-points also matched the Clippers’ franchise record for most points scored in a single game, something James Harden set earlier this season.
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Leonard hit the 50-point mark in the final minute of the third period with a simple pull-up jumper from the short corner over Ronald Holland. That got him to 51 points in the game, six points more than his previous career high from 2019 when he was with the Toronto Raptors. Leonard dropped 26 of his 55 points in the third quarter alone, one more than he scored in the entire first half.
The Clippers held a 23-point lead entering the final period, and Leonard sat for the first half or so of the quarter as a result. He eventually came back in to finish the night and get to his 55-point outing.
Leonard ended up shooting 17-of-26 from the floor and 5-of-10 from behind the arc. He went 16-of-17 from the free throw line, however, which snapped his streak of 64 consecutive made free throws. Leonard has only missed three free throws all season, and has shot a ridiculous 123-of-126 from the stripe.
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Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 27 points and nine assists in the loss, which dropped them to 24-8 on the season. The loss was their second straight, too. Jalen Duren added 18 points, and Jaden Ivey added 11 points off the bench. They were the only three players to hit double figures.
Harden added 28 points to go with Leonard’s historic night. Nicolas Batum finished with 12 points, too. The Clippers shot 47% from the field and only managed five points off the bench.
While Leonard gets almost all of the credit for Sunday night’s win, and deservedly so, the Clippers have been on a roll lately after a very tough start to the season. They entered this four-game win streak on the heels of a stretch in which they lost 10 of their last 11 games to plummet in the Western Conference standings. All four of these wins have come by double digits, too, including a 20-point win over Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets.
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The Clippers will be back in action on Tuesday night when they host the Sacramento Kings.
