LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, Reggie Jackson added 26 and the Los Angeles Clippers used a dominating second quarter Friday night to defeat the Houston Rockets 126-109 and extend their winning streak to four games.
The short handed Clippers, who were missing All-Star Paul George, trailed by 10 at the end of the first quarter and found themselves down 40-26 with 9:57 remaining in the second before outscoring the Rockets 41-6 the remainder of the period.
Leonard scored 11 and Jackson connected on three of his career-tying six 3-pointers during the quarter to give Los Angeles a 67-46 advantage at the break. The Clippers were 15 of 21 from the field during the quarter while the Rockets missed 14 of 15 after making their first two shots.
“To hold a team in the NBA to 10 points, that’s a good quarter,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “I’m proud of our guys. We could have had a letdown (after a win over Phoenix on Thursday). We got off to a slow start, but we are finding ways to win when we have guys out.”
The Clippers said the 31-point quarter differential is tied for the second-largest in team history and the largest since they outscored the Lakers by 31 in the second quarter of a March 2014 game.
“We wanted to move the ball, share it,” Leonard said. “There’s going to be more focus on me, so I got to make sure I start that as a leader of the team and just sharing it early. And then just take it from there.”
According to Sportradar, which has quarter point differentials since 1996, it is the most the Rockets have been outscored in the second quarter and the second-most in any quarter. they were outscored by 32 (46-14) in the first quarter against Miami last season.
The Rockets worked their way back throughout the second half. They…
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