brook lopez

Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points, and the Clippers beat the New Orleans Pelicans 137-117 on Sunday night to end a three-game losing streak.

Ninth in the Western Conference, the Clippers improved to 28-31. The Pelicans are 13th in the West at 19-43.

New Orleans star Zion Williamson sat out after injuring his right ankle at Utah on Saturday night. He had played a career-high 35 straight games.

The Clippers never trailed. They led 43-32 after the first quarter and had a 76-70 advantage at the half. It was 107-94 after three, and the Clippers stretched the margin to 26 in the fourth.

Jordan Miller added 19 points for the Clippers. Derrick Jones Jr. had 17, Brook Lopez 16 and John Collins 15.

While Leonard went one for seven from three-point range, the Clippers were 17 for 36 overall. Lopez was four for six, and Jones and Kobe Sanders both were three for four.

Jeremiah Fears led New Orleans with 28 points, hitting five of six three-pointers. Derik Queen scored 19 points, Dejounte Murray had 17, and Trey Murphy III added 16 after missing five games because of a right shoulder injury.

SACRAMENTO — Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had seven assists to lead the Clippers to a 114-111 victory over Sacramento on Friday night, sending the Kings to their 11th straight loss.

John Collins added 22 points and Brook Lopez and Kris Dunn each had 15 for the Clippers, who ended a two-game skid.

Darius Garland, acquired from Cleveland earlier in the week, remained out. He hasn’t played since Jan. 14 because of a sprained big toe on his right foot.

Malik Monk had 18 points to lead Sacramento, which hasn’t won since beating Washington at home on Jan. 16. Nique Clifford had 16 points and Dylan Cardwell and Devin Carter each had 14 for the Kings. De’Andre Hunter, also acquired from the Cavaliers this week, had six points in his second game for Sacramento.

The Clippers went into halftime trailing 49-48, but took the lead for good with 9:50 left in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer from Lopez to make it 86-84.

Up next

Clippers: At Minnesota on Sunday.

Kings: Host Cleveland on Saturday night.