As the playoffs are approaching The Los Angeles Clippers(47-28) let another game slip away as they were defeated 109-95 by the Sacramento Kings(44-31). The Clippers remain two games ahead of the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans in the race for the fourth playoff seed.
The Clippers were without their All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard who missed the game due to knee soreness.
Russell Westbrooks led the Clippers in scoring with 20 points and Paul George added 18 points.
The Clippers were outrebounded 56-38 by Sacramento and gave up 20 offensive rebounds.
“We got to rebound the basketball better that’s been one of our Achilles heal,” Head coach Tyronn Lue said after the game.
Los Angeles shot 40% in the first half making 16 of 40 attempts from the field and went 6 of 11 from behind the arc for 54%
The Kings shot 46% from the field on 19 of 41 shooting and shot 38% from the three-point line making 8 of 21 attempts.
In the second half, Domantas Sabonis scored 15 of his 22 points to go along with his 20 rebounds and led the charge for the Kings. Sacramento took a 26-point lead in the fourth which was their largest of the game.
Sacramento shot 39% in the second half and continued to dominate inside the paint with a 16-point advantage with points in the paint and controlling the rebound margin.
The Clippers struggled to make shots in the second half only shooting 41% from the floor.
When asked what he would like to see out of his team to close out the season as they prepare for the playoffs Lue said “I want us to play like we have the last four games and just continue to build defensively and continue to have that defensive mindset with getting stops”.
Los Angeles now prepares for a three-game homestand that begins Thursday night against the #1 seed in the Western Conference the Denver Nuggets. The Clippers hope to get Kawhi Leonard back as they look to take on the defending champions.
