Clippers guard James Harden appears to be like on in the course of the second half of their victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday evening on the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards ahead Kyshawn George (18) drives the ball towards Clippers guard Norman Powell (24) in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Clippers ahead Kawhi Leonard, proper, reacts whereas driving the ball towards Washington Wizards ahead Kyle Kuzma (33) in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly dunks the ball in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball sport towards the Clippers, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Clippers ahead Derrick Jones Jr. appears to be like down the court docket in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport towards the Washington Wizards, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards ahead Kyshawn George, proper, appears to be like to drive the ball towards Clippers middle Mo Bamba (4) in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Clippers middle Mo Bamba reacts after a 3-point basket in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball sport towards the Washington Wizards, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington (8) drives the ball previous Clippers guard Amir Coffey, left, in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Clippers middle Ivica Zubac appears to be like on in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball sport towards the Washington Wizards, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole, proper, is fouled by Clippers guard Terance Mann, left, in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole, proper, appears to be like to shoot whereas contested by Clippers middle Ivica Zubac, left, in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poolelooks to shoot in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball sport towards the Clippers, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Clippers middle Ivica Zubac appears to be like on in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball sport towards the Washington Wizards, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington (8) drives the ball towards Clippers guard Norman Powell, left, in the course of the first half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards ahead Kyle Kuzma, proper, will get a block on Clippers ahead Kawhi Leonard (2) in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Clippers guard Norman Powell, left, reacts after being known as for a foul in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport towards the Washington Wizards, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Clippers guard Norman Powell, left, goes up with the ball towards Washington Wizards guard Bub Carrington (8) in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Clippers middle Ivica Zubac (40) is fouled by Washington Wizards middle Jonas Valanciunas in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) will get a rebound towards Clippers middle Ivica Zubac (40) in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Clippers guard Kevin Porter Jr. (77) drives the ball towards Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards middle Jonas Valanciunas reacts after a turnover in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport towards the Clippers, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Clippers ahead Kawhi Leonard appears to be like to drive as Washington Wizards ahead Kyle Kuzma defends in the course of the second half on Thursday evening on the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards ahead Richaun Holmes, proper, and Clippers middle Ivica Zubac vie for a rebound in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Clippers guard Cam Christie controls the ball in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport towards the Washington Wizards, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Clippers guard James Harden, middle, reacts after being fouled on a drive in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport towards the Washington Wizards, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole appears to be like on in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport towards the Clippers, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards middle Jonas Valanciunas, left, dribbles towards Clippers middle Ivica Zubac (40) in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Washington Wizards middle Jonas Valanciunas gestures in the course of the second half of a sport towards the Clippers, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
Clippers guard James Harden shoots the ball previous to an NBA basketball sport towards the Washington Wizards, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Picture/William Liang)
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Clippers guard James Harden appears to be like on in the course of the second half of their victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday evening on the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. (AP Picture/William Liang)
INGLEWOOD — The Clippers will end this stretch of video games Saturday having performed six video games in 9 days. Then it’s one other 4 street video games in seven days. At instances, the video games start to look the identical, though they don’t all play the identical.
There will be intense video games towards the defending NBA champions and blowouts towards the worst staff within the league.
“We simply received to exit and attempt to win,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue mentioned. “You simply know every single day’s a troublesome sport and also you’ve received to be ready to play.”
Some video games are more durable than others, after which there are video games like Wednesday’s 110-93 victory over the struggling Washington Wizards on the second evening of a back-to-back on the Intuit Dome.
“Not a superb sport for us. It was only a win,” Lue mentioned. “We didn’t play notably properly. We didn’t execute and have been unfastened with the basketball. We did some good issues as properly, however it wasn’t considered one of our greatest video games, I assumed.”
Lue pointed to the Clippers’ 18 turnovers towards the staff with the worst file within the league as proof.
“Like final evening I assumed we performed higher, however it’s a win. We’ll take it. We received to start out stacking wins, however we received to start out executing the correct method. And I don’t assume we did a superb job with that tonight.”
It was, nonetheless, the type of sport they wanted after taking part in three video games within the earlier 4 days. The Wizards supplied little resistance towards a wholesome Clippers roster.
The Clippers (24-19) performed with out six of their high eight rotation gamers towards the Celtics, however the starters have been again on Thursday, as was reserve Nico Batum, in time to face the Wizards (a league-worst 6-37). Guard Kris Dunn was nonetheless out due to a sore knee and Jordan Miller was out due to sickness.
The Clippers’ balanced scoring was an excessive amount of for the Wizards, with six gamers ending in double figures. The victory snapped a two-game shedding streak.
Leonard continued to ramp up his sport, posting 15 factors, seven rebounds and one help in 23 minutes, 47 seconds, which saved inside his minutes restrict since returning to the lineup on Jan. 4. He missed the primary 34 video games of the season due to lingering proper knee soreness.
“Over (his) final two video games, I assumed he’s been actually good, simply attacking a basket, attending to his spots, taking part in with a tempo,” Lue mentioned earlier than the sport. “The primary few video games, he type of simply eased into it, attempting to really feel it out and see if he can belief his knee. However now, I believe mentally he’s actually previous that time.”
James Harden posted his 79th profession triple-double with 17 factors, 12 rebounds and 13 assists, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain for the eighth place on the NBA’s profession record.
“It means so much, man, simply impacting the sport in different methods,” Harden mentioned. “Scoring is one factor, however rebounding basketball, facilitating is one other factor and simply impacting the sport. You don’t received to be the perfect participant on the court docket by simply scoring the basketball each single evening.
“Clearly, that helps, however there’s different methods to affect video games and also you’ve been seeing it all through the course of the historical past of the NBA. I’m simply glad to be part of a kind of on our record.”
Norman Powell added 22 factors, and Derrick Jones Jr., who performed 44 minutes towards the Celtics the earlier evening, completed with 19 factors and eight rebounds. Middle Ivica Zubac, who missed two video games after being poked within the eye by Lakers middle Anthony Davis on Sunday, had 11 factors and 9 rebounds. Backup middle Mo Bama had 13 factors, six rebounds and 5 blocked pictures.
With 4 of the 5 starters on the bench, the Wizards chipped away on the lead within the third quarter. They outscored the Clippers 23-13 to whittle what had been a 27-point margin to 17 by the top of the quarter (89-72).
“We simply received careless and (began) taking dangerous pictures, not letting the sport play out,” Lue mentioned. “You may’t dictate who’s going to get the pictures if you happen to’re taking part in basketball the correct method. And so, I don’t assume we did that the second half or the third all through.”
Lue put the starters, besides Leonard, again in halfway by way of the fourth quarter after the Wizards trimmed the result in 95-83. A layup and 3-pointer by Powell restored a 17-point cushion with 6:56 left within the sport.
Jordan Poole scored 24 factors and had 9 assists for the Wizards. Bilal Coulibaly added 15 factors and Alex Star 14 factors and 10 rebounds.
