Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points, Terance Mann added a season-high 21 and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied from a 22-point deficit in the second half to snap the Atlanta Hawks’ eight-game winning streak with a 119-110 victory on Monday night.
Luke Kennard made all eight of his shots and scored all of his season high-tying 20 points in the second half for the Clippers, who fell behind 88-66 in the third quarter shortly after a frustrated coach Ty Lue put in a small lineup of five reserves.
“With the team that we have, we know that we’re capable of making some comebacks,” Kennard said.
Photo: Robert Hanashiro-USA Today
With Mann and Kennard spurring the comeback, Los Angeles ended the game on a dominant 53-22 run.
“I think we realized over the past few games that energy is one of the things that works for us,” said Mann, who scored 11 points in the fourth quarter. “When we’re hustling, rebounding the ball and showing personality, it’s made us open up our eyes.”
Trae Young had 28 points and eight assists, and John Collins scored 23 points in the Hawks’ first loss this month, and their first under new coach Nate McMillan. Atlanta’s winning streak was their longest since January 2015.
“I thought we just started celebrating,” McMillan said. “They made some adjustments, they went small, and we just lost our focus and didn’t finish this game.”
After Lue emptied his bench because he said he was “looking for life,” a lineup without All-Stars Leonard and Paul George shockingly trimmed the deficit to single digits. George finished with a season-low eight points, but the Clippers did not need him.
“I think it’s definitely one of the most fun games I’ve been a part of in my basketball career,” Kennard said. “That’s top two, if not at the top. The group that was in, and then just hearing the guys on the sidelines, the way they were cheering us on as we made that run, that’s what it’s all about.”
After Mann hit the tying layup with 4 minutes, 25 seconds to play, he drilled a three-pointer with 2 minutes, 42 seconds left to give Los Angeles its first lead of the second half.
Leonard’s decisive three-pointer with 1 minute, 23 seconds left capped a 50-20 surge by the Clippers, and the superstar added another on the next possession for a flourish on the stunned Hawks.
“We’ve gone through this before,” Young said. “We’ve done a great job recently of closing out games. You’re not going to be perfect all season, but it felt like we had a real good chance of closing this one out.”
In other games on Monday, it was:
‧ Rockets 117, Raptors 99
‧ Jazz 120, Bulls 95
‧ Grizzlies 132, Celtics 126
‧ Bucks 140, Pacers 113
‧ Thunder 112, Timberwolves 103
‧ Hornets 100, Spurs 97
‧ Kings 119, Cavaliers 105
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