LOS ANGELES — James Harden scored 22 points and recorded nine assists to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 104-88 victory over the Sacramento Kings in NBA Cup play on Friday night.
The Clippers played their most efficient half of the season, seizing control with a dominant 20-1 run in the first quarter. By halftime, they were ahead 51-29, committing only three turnovers.
Derrick Jones Jr. added 17 points for Los Angeles, which improved to 1-1 in the NBA Cup and extended its home winning streak to seven games after starting 0-4 at the new Intuit Dome.
For Sacramento, De'Aaron Fox scored 25 of his 29 points in the second half, but the Kings couldn't recover from a sluggish start. Domantas Sabonis contributed 24 points and 15 rebounds after missing the previous two games due to a back injury, while DeMar DeRozan added 16 points in his first game since Nov. 15, also due to a back injury.
Takeaways:
- Kings: Despite impressive recent performances, Fox struggled early, highlighted by a badly missed 3-pointer late in the first half, underscoring Sacramento's tough start.
- Clippers: Los Angeles is tough to beat when they limit turnovers, avoiding mistakes that lead to easy points for their opponents.
Key moment: The Clippers didn't commit a turnover until Mo Bamba was called for an offensive foul with 9:22 remaining in the second quarter.
Key stat: Sacramento struggled from beyond the arc, making just 7 of 35 3-pointers (20%). This marked their second-worst 3-point shooting performance of the season, following a 3-for-26 effort (11.5%) against the Clippers on Nov. 8.
Up next: The Kings will host Brooklyn on Sunday, while the Clippers begin a four-game road trip at Philadelphia on the same day.