The Clippers were the ‘A-Listers’ playing against the ‘Stunt Devils’.
Kawhi Leonard scored a season-high 23 points, and the Los Angeles Clippers posted the largest margin of victory in franchise history by annihilating the visiting Brooklyn Nets 126-67 on Wednesday night.
“They were missing a few of their starters,” Leonard said, “so when guys come in and you’re [not] really knowing [the] offense or defense, it could get like that. … So, it’s understandable.”
James Harden was just four rebounds shy of a triple-double, added 21 points, 11 assists and six boards for Los Angeles, who won in a rout by 59 points to surpass a 50-point victory (138-88) over the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 10, 2022. The Clippers’ largest lead was 64.
The 59-point margin tied the 10th largest in NBA history.
“When you see a loss like this, a lot of things went wrong,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. “Obviously, the energy and competitive spirit was not there, plain and simple. But right now, the only thing I can do is support my guys.”
Leonard shot an efficient 8 of 11 from the field, getting his work done early, in 24 minutes while playing for just the fourth time this season. He was on the shelf to knee inflammation until earlier this month.
“It felt good, but like I said before, I’m taking my time and just because [I’m] making shots [doesn’t] mean anything — to me, at least,” he said. “It’s about how I’m moving and feeling and, like I said before, I was feeling well in the first few games and still going to be a moving progress for me.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThe demolition job was also the largest in Nets history. The franchise lost by 52 (139-87) to the Houston Rockets on October 18, 1978, when they were known as the New Jersey Nets.
Brooklyn’s 67 points were the fewest scored in an NBA game this season.
Norman Powell had 18 points for the Clippers, who have won back-to-back games after losing four of five.
Jalen Wilson scored 16 points and DayRon Sharpe had 11 points and a season-best 14 rebounds for the Nets, who find themselves falling off a cliff, loosing for the 17th time in the past 22 games.
“It’s definitely frustrating. I feel like we’ve been getting beat by a lot lately, if I’m being honest. We’re getting some guys back. We’ve just got to keep fighting,” Nets center Nic Claxton said.
“You feel like you’re not doing your job, honestly. We’ve all got a lot of pride. We’ve all got to be better. You can’t lose like this, though. That can’t happen.”
The Nets played without sharpshooter Cameron Johnson (ankle), D’Angelo Russell, who they acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers a month ago (shin/hamstring), Cam Thomas (hamstring) and Ben Simmons (back). Brooklyn shot an anemic 30.1 percent from the field and was a dismal 5 of 28 (17.9 percent) from 3-point range.
Amir Coffey got extended minutes, scoring 13 points off the Clippers bench, Ivica Zubac added 11 points and nine rebounds and Derrick Jones Jr. also had 11 points. The Clippers shot a blistering 54.4 percent from the field and were 12 of 32 (37.5 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Nets led by one, 25-24, after Wilson’s floater early in the second quarter before the Clippers began their assault. Los Angeles outscored Brooklyn 81-30 over the second and third quarters.
The Clippers used a 14-1 surge to take a 43-28 lead and later finished the half with an 11-2 burst to take a 58-35 edge. Harden scored 15 in the half.
The Clippers came out of the locker room looking to snatch the Nets hearts out of their chest, scoring the first 17 points of the third quarter to increase the lead to 40. Powell went on a personal run, scoring the first eight points of the period. Leonard stepped up and scored the final five points of a 13-0 run as Los Angeles took a 90-38 advantage with 5:48 left in the quarter.
The lead swelled all the way to 60 when Kai Jones slammed home a dunk to make it 113-53 with 8:11 remaining in the contest.
