Clippers snap skid with win over Jazz as James Harden hits NBA milestone
INGLEWOOD — The Clippers celebrated James Harden's 3-point achievement on Sunday, taking a moment during a timeout to recognize the 16-year veteran at the Intuit Dome.
Harden moved solely into second place on the NBA's career list, surpassing Ray Allen with 2,974 made 3-pointers. He had buried a 26-foot 3-pointer at the 6:18 mark of the first quarter to reach the benchmark.
With that out of the way, the Clippers focused on beating the Utah Jazz and getting back to the winning side of things. And they got there with a rare 116-105 double-digit victory that snapped a three-game road skid.
The Clippers had won four in a row before traveling to Oklahoma City for one game against the Thunder and two against the Houston Rockets , losing all three. The Intuit Dome was a welcome sight.
Their largest margin of victory this season had been nine points (113-104) against the San Antonio Spurs 13 days ago.
Like so many games this season, the Clippers again found themselves sweating out the ending.
The Clippers led by as many as 22 in the fourth quarter and still maintained a significant lead before Utah closed to within eight (108-100) on a 3-pointer by Laurie Markkanen with 4:06 remaining in the game.
Kevin Porter Jr. put the Clippers back up by 10 on a layup but Clarkson buried a 3-pointer to narrow the lead down to seven, 110-103.
The Clippers scored five quick points to put them comfortably ahead, 115-103, and held off any further challenge from their opponent.
The Clippers had five players in double figures, led by Ivica Zubac's 22 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots in 32 minutes.
Balancing out the scoring was Harden (20 points, six rebounds, 11 assists), Powell (18 points), Porter Jr. (12 points) and Kris Dunn (11 points, four assists).
Another nod could easily have gone to 7-0 Mo Bamba, the Clippers' offseason pick-up, who scored nine points and posted eight rebounds in relief of starting center Ivica Zubac. It was Bamba's season debut with his new team.
Coach Tyronn Lue had seen small signs of fatigue in Zuback, who carried much of the big man duties in the team's first 13 games as Bamba rehabbed a lingering sore left knee.
"I think it's been tough (for Zubac)," Lue said. "He plays the first six minutes of the game and then usually plays that whole second quarter. And so, as a guy who is 7-foot, 7-1, 7-2 or whatever, we gotta do a better job just trying to either get him three stints – where we start him the second quarter, get him out and then get him back in again. But I can tell that the fatigue is setting in with him."
With Bamba filling in, Zubac shaved a few minutes off his average as the Croatian big man had been playing 34 minutes a game.
The Jazz (3-10) were without Walker Kessler (hip), who missed his third game with no clear timetable for his return. John Collins and Drew Eubanks will absorb the minutes at center; Collins started in Kessler's place again and finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Jordan Clarkson led the Jazz with 21 points, while Markkanen added 18 points and 10 rebounds.
