James Harden, Kawhi Leonard lead surging Clippers past Hornets

INGLEWOOD — James Harden has passed some of the NBA’s greatest players while moving into the top 10 on the career scoring list, but this was special.

“Definitely special,” the 11-time All-Star point guard said.

Harden overcame a slow start against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night and finished with 32 points in a 117-109 victory to move past Lakers great Shaquille O’Neal for ninth place on the NBA’s career scoring list with 28,623 points.

“Shaq is someone that I watched being a hometown kid in L.A., watching him and Kobe (Bryant) and the Lakers do some special things here for the city,” said Harden, who starred at Artesia High. “We were watching the most dominant center of all time, so it’s definitely an honor.”

It also was Harden’s 109th career game with at least 30 points and 10 assists, which ranks second all-time in the NBA.

His night wasn’t as dramatic as the last time these teams played in November, when Harden erupted for a season-high 55 points en route to a dominant victory.

This time, the Clippers needed every single one of his points and Kawhi Leonard’s game-high 35 to continue their march toward a postseason spot.

Three weeks ago, Coach Tyronn Lue told the team that the goal was to finish the rest of its season 30-25 after the team stumbled to a 6-21 start. With Monday’s win, the Clippers (16-23) have responded by winning 10 of their past 12 games. Some have been blowouts, others have been tight contests.

This one was the latter until the final five minutes when the Clippers began getting defensive stops and making shots.

“James hit back-to-back 3’s that got us going and then it was pretty much uphill for us there,” Leonard said.

After Tre Mann’s 3-pointer gave Charlotte a 100-99 lead with 7:18 left, Harden scored eight points during a 15-1 run that gave the Clippers a 13-point lead. Leonard capped the surge with an 11-foot floater with 3:16 left.

The Hornets (14-26) cut the margin to seven with 1:22 left but couldn’t get any closer.

“This is a huge win for us just to gut this one out,” Lue said. “Just everybody giving everything they got. And like I said, it starts with James and Kawhi every night, just being available, playing at a high level and trusting their guys. … It’s about finding a way to win the game.”

The Hornets were determined to try to limit Harden this time.

“The 55 happened a lot of different ways,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said before the rematch. “I think one of the biggest things when we went back and watched the film was our inability to really affect Harden. I don’t think he felt us enough.”

Harden felt the pressure early on Monday, making just four of 14 shots for 13 points in the first half, but he stepped up in the second half, scoring 19. Harden, who began the night 14 points behind O’Neal’s 28,596, moved ahead on a 3-pointer early in the third quarter.

Leonard, playing on a minutes restriction because of a sore right ankle, finished 11 for 19 from the field, which included going 5 for 9 from 3-point range in 31 minutes.

There was some concern about Leonard’s ankle before the game, with the team calling his availability a game-time decision. After his pregame workout, the team said he would play but his minutes would be capped at 30.

Leonard sprained his right ankle when he stepped on a fan’s foot while running down the sideline during a game against the New York Knicks last Wednesday, but he played against Brooklyn on Friday and Detroit on Saturday, scoring 26 points in each game.

“He’s feeling it, but we’ll see,” Lue said of Leonard’s ankle after the Knicks game.

Whether it was fatigue from the back-to-back games against the Nets and Pistons or the long flight home, something was lacking with the Clippers early against the Hornets. They got off to a slow start, none more noticeable than Kris Dunn, who missed all six of his shots on his bobblehead night.

“I thought we were dead,” Lue said. “Just looked slow, methodical. Guys were tired, winded, and so just trying to tell the guys just to push through, just stay with it and that at some point we’d get our second wind and we’d be able to be able to push through this game.”

Still, the Clippers managed to take a 45-43 lead into halftime.

Both teams picked up the pace in the third quarter. The Clippers opened their biggest lead of the game at 73-64 on a layup by Harden with 5:29 left in the third quarter. But the Hornets fought back and closed the gap to 77-76 on a reverse layup by LaMelo Ball then tied the score on three free throws by Grant Williams.

Ball, a former Chino Hills High star, finished with a team-high 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Rookie Kon Knueppel had 18 points and five rebounds. Moussa Diabaté had 13 points and 15 rebounds, while Brandon Miller also scored 13 and Miles Bridges added 11.

Jordan Miller added 14 points and Ivica Zubac had nine points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers.