Kawhi Leonard leads Clippers to a dominant win over the Pelicans amid playoff push
Kawhi Leonard scored 28 points and all five Clippers starters scored in double figures as the team rolled to a home win over the Pelicans on Wednesday.
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The teams the Clippers are chasing for a top-six spot in the Western Conference standings keep winning and that means the Clippers have to continue their pursuit of wins until the final seedings are decided.
His team understands “what’s at stake” and “what’s at risk,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said, and that has kept his group on high alert as it seeks to avoid the NBA’s play-in tournament by earning a top-six seed.
As it stands, even after the Clippersdefeated the depleted New Orleans Pelicans 114-98 on Wednesday night at the Inuit Dome, the Clippers remain a play-in team.
The Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies all have identical 44-32 records, all of them a half-game behind the fifth-seeded Golden State Warriors.
HARDEN ➡️ ZU ➡️ KAWHI
2⃣ good. pic.twitter.com/5fiBbwk8oQ— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) April 3, 2025
With six regular-season games left, Lue said the Clippers want to play their best basketball, hunt for a top-six position and stay healthy.
“Health is important,” Lue said. “But like you said, trying to get the top-six seed is very important as well, because you don’t want to go into the play-in game because in one or two games anything can happen. So that’s been our focus and our mindset and I give our guys credit. They’ve been doing a good job with that.”
The Clippers earned Wednesday's win with a balanced attack, six players scoring in double figures. The team got strong performances from Kawhi Leonard and James Harden to lead the way.
Leonard was efficient, scoring 28 points, shooting 11 for 18 from the field and three for five from three-point range.
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Harden had a double-double with 21 points and 10 assists. After going one for five from three-point range, Harden has made 404 three-pointers as a Clipper, pushing him past Eric Gordon for sole possession of 10th place on the all-time list.
Ivica Zubac had 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 16 points off the bench.
The Clippers won for the ninth time in 10 games but it wasn’t easy at times.
New Orleans just shut down Zion Williamson (bone bruise in his back) and CJ McCollum (bone bruise in his right foot), and other players missed the game too. But the Pelicans didn’t just roll over, forcing the Clippers to stay alert.
It took a three-pointer from Bogdanovic, an offensive rebound and put-back along with two free throws from Zubac, and a three pointer from Leonard for the Clippers to open a 20-point lead late in the fourth quarter.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
