LA Clippers aim for season-best 3-game win streak at Portland Trail Blazers’ expense
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard shooting over Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant at Intuit Dome on Dec 23.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PORTLAND – Kawhi Leonard’s hot streak is inserting much-needed life into the Los Angeles Clippers.
He is looking for another superb outing and the Clippers are seeking a season-best third straight National Basketball Association (NBA) victory when they visit the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec 26 night (Dec 27 morning, Singapore time).
Leonard scored 32 points in the 103-88 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec 20 and followed up with a season-best 41 in the 128-108 triumph over the Houston Rockets on Dec 23. It marked just the second time the Clippers (8-21) have won back-to-back games all season.
Despite Los Angeles sitting in 13th place in the 15-team Western Conference, Leonard is confident they can make a run up the standings.
“We all know how many games we lost early,” he said. “I don’t know how many games are left, probably 50-plus so, it’s a long season. So, any time we put on this jersey, you got to compete and try to win a basketball game, and that’s what I’m taking pride in. I think everybody else is, too – win, lose or draw.
“We don’t have a give-up mentality, even though the record looks like that. Like I said, we got to compete.”
He has scored 20 or more points in each of his last 11 games and is averaging 26.1 points this season.
James Harden scored 29 points against Houston and has topped 20 in four of his last five appearances and is averaging 26.0 points this season.
He also hopes the Clippers are ready to kick it into a higher gear with five straight home games following the visit to Portland.
“I don’t know what it feels like to be in this position with this record,” said the 36-year-old, who is in his 17th NBA season.
“So, I always feel like we’re better than obviously the record shows. We got an opportunity, these home games coming up, to take advantage of it and rack up some wins.”
The Trail Blazers (12-18) dug themselves out of big holes in each of their past two games but were on the losing side both times. They trailed by 21 against the Detroit Pistons before losing 110-102.
Against Orlando, Portland were behind by 17 and had a chance to tie the contest, but the Magic closed it out to win 110-106.
“We’re just going to continue to fight, we’re not going to back off,” Portland standout Deni Avdija said of the setbacks. “We believe in each other. Those losses are tough, but you really learn from them. I’d rather lose close games like that than get blown out.”
Trail Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter said their mood remains strong despite the difficult losses.
“This effort is going to pay off sooner or later,” he said. “The most important thing is you have to compete and be in those moments to try and win basketball games.”
The Clippers have won 19 of the past 21 meetings with Portland, including a 114-107 home victory on Oct 26. Leonard had 30 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles, so once again he will be the man to watch.
Meanwhile in NBA action on Dec 25, De’Aaron Fox scored 29 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 117-102 road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the clash of the Western leaders.
The Spurs (23-7) have won eight consecutive games – which does not include the NBA Cup final loss to the New York Knicks on Dec 16 – extending their longest winning streak since 2018-19.
The Thunder (26-5) have dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season and have lost four of their last six since starting 24-1.
In another game, Amen Thompson had 26 points and Kevin Durant added 25 as the visiting Houston Rockets led wire-to-wire in a 119-96 win over the Lakers. REUTERS, AFP
