Norman Powell scored 31 points amid his hot start to the season, James Harden added 22 points and the Los Angeles Clippers remained unbeaten on the road with a 107-98 win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
Powell completed his first career double-double with a career-high 12 rebounds. Ivica Zubac also notched a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, helping the Clippers lead almost the entire game en route to a third straight win.
A dunk by Amir Coffey put the Clippers up 96-80 with 5:33 remaining before the Kings, seeking a third consecutive win, made a late push.
De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis combined for 12 of the points in a 14-2 burst that got the hosts within 98-94 with still 2:41 to play. Powell responded by drilling a rally-killing 3-pointer 14 seconds later, and Coffey added another trey with 1:54 to go as Los Angeles pushed its lead back to double digits at 104-94.
The Kings were never closer than eight after that as the Clippers improved to 3-0 on the road this season.
Powell’s 12 rebounds eclipsed his previous career-best of 11, which came with Toronto against Oklahoma City on March 22, 2019, in a game he finished scoreless.
Powell’s 31 points Friday gave him 20 or more in eight straight games since opening the season with 17 against Phoenix.
Harden had a game-high eight assists, Coffey and Derrick Jones Jr. finished with 14 points apiece and Kevin Porter Jr. scored 11.
Fox matched Powell with 31 points for Sacramento. He made two of his five 3-point attempts, while his teammates combined to miss 20 of their 21 tries.
The Clippers, who shot 14-for-30 (46.7 percent) from beyond the arc, outscored the hosts 42-9 on 3-pointers.
Sabonis put up a 23-point, 12-rebound double-double to go with a team-high-tying six assists for the Kings, while Malik Monk added 17 points and DeMar DeRozan paired 13 points with six assists. Keegan Murray collected 10 rebounds to complement seven points.
-Field Level Media
