Harden records double-double to send Clippers past sluggish Hornets

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Harden had 31 points and 10 rebounds, Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat Charlotte 123-88 Sunday night.

Ivica Zubac added 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Clippers (38-30). He made two foul shots with 5:43 left before halftime to give the Clippers 45-34 lead with 5:43 before halftime and they led by double digits for the remainder of the game.

Derrick Jones added 12 points for the Clippers.

Mark Williams scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and LaMelo Ball scored 16 for Charlotte (17-50).

Takeaways

Hornets: Charlotte appeared to have left its offense in Texas after beating San Antonio 145-134 on Friday night. After posting its highest point total of the season against the Spurs, Charlotte failed to reach 90 for the ninth time this year.

Clippers: Los Angeles has quietly won six of its last seven and sit five games behind Houston, Denver and Memphis (all 43-25) for the second seed in the Western Conference.

Key moment

The Clippers took control with a 17-6 run turning a 11-9 deficit into a 26-16 lead off a layup from Harden with 1:43 left in the first quarter.

Key stat

Harden (four 3-pointers) and Leonard (three 3s) combined to make more than Charlotte which shot 6 of 33 (18.2%) from behind the arc.

Next up

Charlotte hosts Atlanta on Tuesday. The Clippers host league-leading Cleveland on Tuesday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba