Kawhi Leonard on Sunday scored 41 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals to lead the Los Angeles Clippers in a lopsided 115-96 victory at Minnesota.
The 34-year-old forward, a two-time NBA champion, matched the second-best road scoring effort of his career as the Clippers improved to 25-27.
“Just being aggressive. My teammates trust me,” Leonard said. “Every moment when I touch the ball — assist, shooting the basketball or getting a rebound — I’m just trying to help the team win.”
Photo: AP
Leonard made three steals in a row at the start of the contest.
“Just wanted to come out early in the game and set a tone for us on the defensive end,” Leonard said. “I reached for the ball, I got it and we got off in transition.”
After dealing away James Harden and Ivica Zubac at the NBA trade deadline, the Clippers played with spark as they awaited the arrival of new players.
“We’ve got a good group,” Leonard said. “Guys are level-headed. They love to play basketball. We’re just going out and competing every night.”
Leonard delivered 24 points in the first half on the way to his fourth 40-point performance of the season for the Clippers, who closed the second quarter with a 20-6 run for a 54-42 halftime lead and never looked back.
Days after French big man Rudy Gobert had called out his teammates for “unacceptable” poor effort, the Timberwolves struggled again with their second-fewest points in any game this season.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 23 points, while Julius Randle added 17.
Kris Dunn of the Clippers was ejected late in the fourth quarter after shoving Randle in the back to spark a shoving match that was broken up by teammates.
Elsewhere, Jalen Brunson produced game highs of 31 points and eight assists to spark the New York Knicks over Boston 111-89 for their ninth win in 10 games.
Brunson hit 12 of 21 shots from the floor and four of eight from three-point range for the visiting Knicks, who improved to 34-19 to match Boston for second in the Eastern Conference.
Josh Hart added 19 points for New York, while Jose Alvarado had 12 off the bench on his Knicks debut, while Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 11 points.
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 26 points as the Celtics settled for a season-low in points.
The Knicks ended the third quarter with a 15-3 run for an 85-68 lead and cruised from there, the Celtics going none-for-10 from three-point range in the third quarter.
Miami’s Bam Adebayo scored 22 points and Norman Powell added 21 to lead the Heat in a 132-101 triumph at Washington.
Toronto’s Scottie Barnes scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while R.J. Barrett added 20 points to lead the Raptors (32-22) over visiting Indiana 122-104.
Former Raptors star Pascal Siakam of Cameroon scored 18 points to lead Indiana (13-40), who suffered a fourth consecutive loss.
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