Darius

Kawhi Leonard had 27 points, Darius Garland added 24, and the Clippers beat the Toronto Raptors 119-94 on Wednesday night.

Bennedict Mathurin had 23 off the bench and Brook Lopez scored 11 of his 14 points in the first quarter for the Clippers, who have won three in a row.

The Clippers stayed a half-game ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers for eighth in the Western Conference.

Brandon Ingram had 18 points, Sandro Mamukelashvili chipped in with 13, but the Raptors have now lost three straight.

Toronto dropped into sixth in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the Atlanta Hawks, and is a half-game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers in seventh.

With Lopez setting the tone, the Clippers outscored the Raptors 23-9 over the final 6:10 of the first quarter to open a 14-point lead.

Kawhi Leonard shoots over Raptors forward Collin Murray-Boyles in the first half.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

The Raptors found themselves trailing by 22 in the second quarter before a late 11-1 run cut the gap. However, Toronto could have cut into the advantage even more had it capitalized better on 10 offensive rebounds or from the free-throw line, where it shot 14.3% (one for seven) in the period.

Mamukelashvili hit consecutive three-pointers as the Raptors tried to make one more push late in the third quarter, only for the Clippers to pull away again, with Garland making a 35-footer at the buzzer.

The Clippers were 19 for 24 from the free-throw line and outscored Toronto there by 15 points.

Raptors center Jakob Poeltl was briefly forced out of the game after sustaining a cut near his left eye going up for a rebound early in the second quarter and finished with 10 points.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kawhi Leonard had 28 points, Darius Garland scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and the Clippers held on for a 123-120 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.

Bennedict Mathurin finished 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Derrick Jones Jr. added 16 points as the Clippers won for the fourth time in five games despite hitting only four three-pointers, a season low.

Ty Jerome led Memphis with 23 points and seven assists. Taylor Hendricks scored 18 and Cedric Coward 15 as Memphis lost its third straight.

The game was close throughout, and the Grizzlies held a 118-117 lead with about two minutes left. Leonard and Jordan Miller each made a pair of free throws to give the Clippers a 121-118 edge. Mathurin’s two free throws with 4.4 seconds left sealed the win as Jerome’s closing three-point try for Memphis was off the mark.

The Clippers, who were 15 games under .500 earlier this season, now sit at 31-32. The are in ninth place in the Western Conference, and in the running for a postseason bid.

Meanwhile, the Grizzlies’ season has been marred by injuries. Six rotation players were on the injured list for Saturday’s game, including guard Ja Morant, who missed his 20th game with a left elbow ulnar collateral ligament sprain.

Before the game, Morant said he wanted to remain with the franchise, even referring to a Grizzlies logo tattooed on his back as a sign of his loyalty.

Memphis got off to a fast start building a 19-point lead against the Clippers, playing on the second night of a back-to-back.

The advantage was short-lived. The shooting touch left Memphis, which committed 10 turnovers in the second. Leonard scored 15 points and the Clippers trailed by a point at 59-58 at the break.