Published: December 21, 2025 at 10:56 am
Kawhi Leonard scored a season-high 32 points and the slumping Los Angeles Clippers rode their 3-point shooting to a 103-88 victory over LeBron James and the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers in California on Saturday night, snapping a five-game skid.
Luka Doncic, the NBA’s scoring leader, didn’t return for the Lakers after halftime because of a lower leg contusion. He had 12 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes after missing his first six shots. Doncic was coming off a triple-double of 45 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists at Utah on Thursday.
James led the Lakers with a season-high 36 points. James Harden had 21 points and 10 assists for the Clippers. John Collins added 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Clippers were 16 of 43 from 3-point range, with Leonard tying his season high with four, Harden making four and Brook Lopez hitting three off the bench. The Lakers missed 32 3-pointers, with James going 3 of 7, Doncic 1 of 6 and Marcus Smart missing all of his nine attempts.
The Clippers had lost 12 of their last 15 to fall to the bottom of the Western Conference. But they led the entire game and held off a Lakers spurt that cut their lead to seven to open the fourth.
The Lakers got that close with the help of a six-point possession. Kobe Sanders received a flagrant-1 foul on Smart’s 3-point attempt. Smart made all three free throws and the Lakers got possession. James scored, got fouled and made the free throw, leaving them trailing 80-73.
The Clippers answered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Collins and Harden to go with Leonard’s dunk off James’ turnover. The Lakers then ran off six in a row to close to 88-79.
From there, the Clippers closed out just their seventh win of the season.
Durant scores 31 as Rockets roll past Nuggets
In Denver, Kevin Durant scored 31 points, Reed Sheppard scored the final 11 points of the third quarter to blow open a close game, and the Houston Rockets rolled past the Denver Nuggets 115-101.
Sheppard was 6 for 9 from long range and scored 28 points. His last bucket came on a steal and a slam after the Nuggets reserves had trimmed a 21-point deficit to 107-97 in the closing minutes.
The Rockets avenged a loss earlier in the week at Denver and snapped the Nuggets’ six-game winning streak. Durant was 5 for 6 from 3-point range and Jabari Smith was 5 for 11 from long range for 22 points. The Rockets shot 19 of 35 from long range (54%) to Denver’s 8 of 29 (27%).
Nikola Jokic led Denver with 25 points and Jamal Murray scored 16.
Maxey stars in 76ers victory over Mavericks
Tyrese Maxey scored 38 points, including seven during a key fourth-quarter stretch, and VJ Edgecombe added 26 as the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 121-114 in Philadelphia.
Dominick Barlow added 21 points for Philadelphia, which played without Joel Embiid (illness/right knee injury management) and Paul George (left knee injury management). Embiid missed his second consecutive game and 16th of the season.
The 76ers have won six of eight. Cooper Flagg and Anthony Davis each scored 24 points for Dallas.
Flagg, who turns 19 on Sunday, began play second among NBA rookies in both scoring (18.6 points per game) and rebounding (6.4 rpg).
Celtics down slumping Raptors 112-96
Payton Pritchard scored 19 of his 33 points in the third quarter, Derrick White and Anfernee Simons each had 15, and the short-handed Boston Celtics beat the slumping Toronto Raptors 112-96 in Toronto.
Neemias Queta scored 14 points, Luka Garza had 12 and Hugo Gonzalez added 10 as the Celtics won their third straight meeting with Toronto. Boston’s Jaylen Brown, who scored 30 points in Friday’s home win over the Miami Heat, sat out because of an illness.
Pritchard shot eight for 10 in the third, making two of four attempts from 3-point range. He finished 13 for 24, making four of nine from distance. Pritchard led Boston with 10 assists, matching his season-high. He also had seven rebounds. Garza and Gonzalez each had 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who have won seven of their last nine games.
Williamson matches his season high as Pelicans down Pacers
Zion Williamson came off the bench for the third consecutive game and matched his season high with 29 points as the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Indiana Pacers 128-109 on Saturday night for their season-high fourth straight win.
Williamson, who did not play during the fourth quarter and overtime of the Pelicans’ 133-128 victory over Houston on Thursday, scored 18 points in the first half as the Pelicans raced to a 64-49 lead. Williamson made 9 of 14 shots from the floor and 11 of 13 free throws and grabbed seven rebounds.
Saddiq Bey scored 18 points, Trey Murphy III and Derik Queen each had 17 and Jordan Poole 16 for New Orleans. Queen also had 10 rebounds. The New Orleans reserves accounted for a season-high 66 points.
Pascal Siakam scored 22 points to lead the Pacers. Johnny Furphy had 18 and T.J. McConnell 16 as Indiana lost its fourth in row.
Cunningham scores a triple-double in Hornets victory
Cade Cunningham had a triple-double and Jalen Duren added 19 points and 11 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons beat the Charlotte Hornets 112-86 on Saturday night. Cunningham finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists despite sitting out the last four minutes as each coach emptied his bench.
Tobias Harris scored 19 points for Detroit, which won for the seventh time in nine games. Duncan Robinson had 15 points and Ausar Thompson added 14 as ll five starters finished in double figures for the Pistons, who shot 21.4% (6 for 28) on 3-pointers.
Kon Knueppel and Miles Bridges each scored 19 points for Charlotte, which had won five of its last nine after a 4-14 start. Brandon Miller finished with 14 points, but LaMelo Ball fouled out with eight points on 3-for-14 shooting.
Detroit finished with a 62-41 rebounding edge, including 17 offensive rebounds.
Wizards erase 20-point deficit, down Grizzlies
In Memphis, CJ McCollum and Kyshawn George scored 28 points each keying a second-half comeback as the Washington Wizards erased a 20-point deficit and defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 130-122 on Saturday night.
Alex Sarr added 18 points and 11 rebounds for Washington. The Wizards snapped a seven-game losing streak in Memphis, where they hadn’t won since Jan. 5, 2018. Marvin Bagley had 16 points. McCollum was 4 of 5 from outside the arc in the second half. George added seven assists and seven rebounds.
Santi Aldama led Memphis with a career-high 37 points and 10 rebounds. Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 22 and Cam Spencer added 19 for Memphis.
The game was tied at 115 with 4:31 left in the game. A 3-pointer from Sarr gave the Wizards a 121-119 lead with 2:16 left, and Washington didn’t trail the rest of the way.
Curry helps Warriors snap three-game losing streak
In San Francisco, Stephen Curry had 28 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Jimmy Butler scored 25 points, and the Golden State Warriors snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Phoenix Suns 119-116 on Saturday night.
Jordan Goodwin’s 3-pointer with 1:10 left made it a two-point game before Butler answered on the other end with a driving layup and three-point play. Collin Gillespie missed baseline 3 with 18 seconds remaining and Curry converted a pair of free throws before Gillespie connected from deep with 10 seconds to go – and Curry scored again to go 5 of 6 for 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Devin Booker scored 38 points for the Suns. Dillon Brooks scored 22 points and made his first five shots as Phoenix was a sizzling 70.8% in the opening quarter for a 44-32 lead, but dealt with foul trouble late.
Draymond Green was ejected with 10:39 left in the first half following consecutive technical fouls – the first for shoving Gillespie from behind then another apparently for continued arguing – and coach Steve Kerr also received a technical for protesting the ejection.
Green received his first technical for shoving Gillespie from behind moments after blocking his drive on the other end that started the heated back-and-forth. Then Green’s second technical apparently came for continued arguing, as he carried on despite efforts by teammates, Warriors officials and security to push him away.
Trail Blazers get the better of Sacramento Kings
Deni Avdija had 24 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Sacramento Kings 98-93 to sweep a home-and-home series in Sacremento, California.
The Trail Blazers beat the Kings 134-133 in overtime at home Thursday night on Avdija’s late free throws. He has scored 20 or more points in all but five games this season.
Shadedon Sharpe added 23 points, Toumani Camara had 15 points and Donovan Clingan finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Portland has won three in a row to improve to 12-16. Dennis Schroder had 21 points for Sacramento, and rookie Maxime Raynaud had 17 points and 12 rebounds. The Kings have lost five in a row and nine of 10 to fall to 6-22.
Sacramento star Domantas Sabonis is still out with a left knee injury for about four or five weeks.
Bane scores 32 to help Orlando Magic edge Utah Jazz
In Salt Lake City, Desmond Bane scored 32 points, including the winning layup with 0.9 seconds left in overtime, to help the Orlando Magic edge the Utah Jazz 128-127. Bane drove for the finger-roll layup after Keyonte George completed a four-point play to put Utah ahead with 4.1 seconds remaining.
Paolo Banchero added 23 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and blocked two shots to help Orlando snap a two-game losing streak on the road. Anthony Black chipped in 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
George led Utah with 27 points and nine assists. Svi Mykhailiuk added 23 points while Isaiah Collier had 18 points and nine assists. Kevin Love added 16 points and a season-high 16 rebounds off the bench.
The Jazz, who played a second straight game without leading scorer Lauri Markkanen, rallied from a 19-point deficit and sent it to overtime on Collier’s driving layup with 5.2 seconds left in regulation.
