Clippers Top Kings at Kawhi Leonard Game-winning Summer-Beater

Inglewood, California – Kawhi Leonard stood at the top of the key and let seconds crossed the clock. He dribbled to the right, then turned and moved over the paint. As the defense collapsed on him, he set up a left hook.

The ball hit the back plate and the edge before falling into the buzzer, giving La Clippers a hard-fought 111-110 overtime victory against Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.

Leonard fought most of the night and missed 12 of 18 shots before his game winner – the only shot he took overwork.

“Players play big-time plays and he has done it throughout his career,” said teammate James Harden. “For him to step up and beat a game winner like that, it shows the confidence of the type of player he is.”

Leonard beat his right fist into the air and ran to his jubilant teammates.

“We need these wins down the stretch,” he said. “I think this will help us to be a better team that goes on. Everyone was excited and know we needed it.”

The victory helped Clippers tighten their grip on eighth place in the west over the ninth places that fell 1½ games back.

Coach Tyronn Lue went home with back pain before the game and left assistant Brian Shaw responsible. Lue looked at, and a few of the other coaches facetimed him afterwards.

“He looked like he had a heart attack,” Shaw said. “Just as we felt out there without knowing how it would go.”

Clippers improved to 4-6 since the All-Star break. Norman Powell, the team’s leading goal scorer, has been out in much of this stretch. Harden and Powell have transported the team for much of the season, with Ivica Zubac and Derrick Jones Jr., who make solid contributions.

Leonard has gradually increased his minutes since his season debut in early January. However, he is still on a limitation and he put himself briefly in overtime.

“Just itching to get back in,” he said.

Beating the game winner seems to be particularly satisfactory for Leonard who did not debut in the season until January. He missed the first 36 matches with what Clippers described as right to the right knee injury.

“I’m not thinking about it. It’s a game, ”he said. “My goal is to be healthy at the end of this season so I can have a good summer and not worry about performing a whole rehabilitation process again or missing out on a training camp.”

It was Leonard’s second career-winning Summer-Beater. The other was in Game 7 in the semi -finals of 2019 Eastern Conference against the Philadelphia 76ers. Both shots jumped on the edge several times before walking in.

The five -minute extra session was an exciting back and forth with Zach Lavine and Demar Derozan, which combined for Kings ’13 points and Leonard, Zubac, Harden and Jones scored Clippers 14 points.

With fans of both teams on their feet and the kings clung to a one-point lead, Leonard went back into the game. With everyone else in a tizzy, Leonard cooled the defense and worked to get to his place on the floor.

“Just be patient. Even with 5 seconds on the clock or 3 seconds you still have a lot of time to get a shot off,” he said. “Just trust your work.”

ESPN research and Associated Press contributed to this report.