Kawhi Leonard stuffs stat sheet as LA Clippers beat Denver Nuggets in Game 4 to take 3-1 series lead
Game 5 takes place on Friday night at 11:30pm
Thursday 10 September 2020 06:43, UK
Kawhi Leonard recorded 30 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and four steals to lead the LA Clippers to a 96-85 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of the Western Conference semi-final series on Wednesday night.
Montrezl Harrell added 15 points and fellow reserve Lou Williams tallied 12 as the Clippers took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Nikola Jokic had 26 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for Denver, who failed to reach 100 points for the second time in the series. Jamal Murray had 18 points and seven assists, Michael Porter Jr scored 15 points and Gary Harris scored 10 for the Nuggets.
Ivica Zubac had 11 points and nine rebounds and Marcus Morris Sr also scored 11 points for Los Angeles, who shot 41.8 per cent from the field and were 8-of-28 from three-point range. Paul George scored 10 points.
The Nuggets shot 39.7 per cent from the field, including 9-of-27 from three-point range.
Denver recovered from an early 17-point deficit to tie the score at 48 after scoring the first eight points of the third quarter.
But Leonard and Patrick Beverley scored baskets to start a 21-5 burst. Williams ended the run with a floater to give Los Angeles a 69-53 advantage with 3:33 left in the third quarter.
The Clippers led 73-63 entering the final stanza. Harrell then took over with Leonard resting by scoring the team's first three field goals of the fourth quarter as the lead reached 80-65 with 8:51 left.
Leonard's steal and length of the court drive for a lay-up made it 88-69 with 5:44 remaining.
A short time later, Denver used a 12-2 run to pull within 92-83 on Murray's three-pointer with 2:09 left. But Zubac scored the next three points and Landry Shamet split two free throws to increase the Los Angeles lead to 13 and stomp out any final charge by the Nuggets.
Leonard scored 17 first-half points as the Clippers held a 48-40 lead at the break.
Los Angeles opened a 24-7 lead on Leonard's basket with 2:25 remaining in the opening quarter. The Clippers led 26-12 entering the second period, and led by 16 after Leonard's hoop with 7:34 left before Denver trimmed their deficit in half by the end of the stanza.
