HOUSTON — Kawhi Leonard had 28 points, and Paul George and James Harden each scored 21 as the Los Angeles Clippers rallied to a 122-116 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
The Clippers trailed by 20 points and didn’t take the lead in the second half until less than three minutes remained.
“In the first half, it was like we were running in the mud,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “We couldn’t follow them. They went out in transition and we just couldn’t come back and get matched up. So at half-time we insisted on this point.
Los Angeles overcame another big night from Houston big man Alperen Sengun, who had 23 points, a season-high 19 rebounds and 14 assists for his fourth career triple-double. That came one night after he scored a career-high 45 points in a win over San Antonio.
Jabari Smith Jr.’s 3-pointer put the Rockets within 2 with less than two minutes remaining. Norman Powell made one of two free throws for the Clippers before Sengun missed two free throws with just over a minute remaining to leave Houston trailing 115-112.
Fred VanVleet drew a technical foul with 48 seconds left while discussing a foul called on Sengun on a George shot attempt. He made all three free throws to extend the lead to 118-112 and send the home fans heading for the exits.
Leonard was asked about the difference between his team and the first half.
“I just come out with more energy,” he said. “I feel like, especially in the first quarter, we were slow, thinking we were just going to win the game. Then we obviously started collecting it with our energy and cutting and filtering.
Smith added 19 points for Houston and rookie Cam Whitmore had 17.
“We defended well in the first half, but we didn’t do it in the second half,” Houston coach Ime Udoka said. “Credit to them because they have three very good scorers who can make things happen, but you would like to have a little more resistance or consistency between the two halves.”
The Clippers used an 8-1 run to make the score 111-109 and give them their first lead since the start of the first quarter with just under three minutes left. Powell started that run with a 3 and George capped it with another before pointing to his teammates on the bench.
Houston missed a shot after that before Leonard made a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 114-109 with two minutes remaining.
Houston led by 10 after a Dillon Brooks basket early in the fourth quarter before Los Angeles used a 9-4 run to cut the lead to 96-91. Harden led the way in this stretch, scoring seven points.
Whitmore made a 3 for the Rockets before an 8-2 run by the Clippers, fueled by 3s from George and Leonard, cut the lead to 101-99 midway through the quarter.
The Rockets led by 11 with about three minutes left in the third quarter before the Clippers used an 8-1 run to get within 82-78 with about 90 seconds left in the quarter.
Sengun and Brooks both scored a basket for Houston after that, but Leonard finished the quarter with a jump shot to cut the lead to 86-80 heading into the fourth.
FOLLOWING
Clippers: Host Chicago Friday night.
Rockets: Visit Portland Friday night.
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