Forward Kawhi Leonard scored 35 points, including 7 3s, and led the Los Angeles Clippers’ winning attack in Sunday’s 130-127 win over the Chicago Bulls.
Leonard, who scored 11-of-22 from the field and posted his best scoring record of the season, also reached 10,000 points as a professional, on one of five 3-pointers he made in the third period when he reached 21 points.
His points and 3s scored were the most in a single quarter of his career. Leonard’s final 3-pointer in the third period gave the Clippers their first lead since hitting the first basket of the game, and his seven 3-pointers allowed him to equal the best as a professional.
Forward Paul George supported him by scoring another 28 points, seven rebounds and nine assists for the Clippers.
Meanwhile, guard Lou Williams regained his status as the team’s sixth player by scoring 21 points as a reserve that left him as the third highest scorer.
The Congolese-Spanish center Serge Ibaka started with the Clippers and delivered by contributing ten points and five rebounds in the 26 minutes he played.
Ibaka made 5 of 10 shots from the field, missed the 2 triple attempts he made, but did not go to the personnel line, in addition to giving an assist.
French forward Nicolas Batum, who also started, had eight points, three assists, four recoveries, two rebounds and put a stopper in what was his 800th regular season game as a professional in the NBA.
Guard Zach LaVine again gave another scoring display as the Bulls’ leader by scoring 45 points, his best mark of the season, and topped the list of six Chicago team players who finished the game, played at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, with two-digit numbers.
LaVine came within four points of tying his best as a professional, and his 10 3-pointers were also his most this season.
Guard-forward Garrett Temple added 18 points and rookie power forward Patrick Williams had a professional-best 17 points.
Point guard Coby White was on the verge of a double-double with 9 points and 13 assists, a career high. Chicago fell for the third time in a row for the first time since the season began 0-3.
The Clippers chased the Bulls through the first three quarters, trailing 13 points behind. Lou Williams’ basket tied the score at 94 before the fourth and final period began.
The Los Angeles team led by six in the fourth before Temple’s three-point play put the Bulls ahead with a 118-119 run.
Batum made a triple in front of the Clippers bench with power forward Thaddeus Young as defender, and was fouled which turned the play into four goals and started an 8-0 streak that would be the decisive one with the partial advantage of 126- 119.
LaVine hadn’t finished yet. He had a 3-point play and a 3-pointer over power forward Marcus Morris Sr. to lead the Bulls to 126-125.
White was called for his fourth foul, putting George on the line. He did both for a 128-125 lead.
LaVine missed a triple with six seconds remaining and committed the fourth personal foul that George converted into the two points that secured the Clippers victory with the 130-125 run.
Temple’s last basket for the Bulls has already prevented the Clippers (7-2) from winning, who are 3-2 at Staples Center.
The Bulls (4-7) continued without starting power forward Lauri Markkanen, who remains under NBA health and safety protocols.
Another tall man for the Bulls, forward Otto Porter Jr., missed the game with back pain.
