ejected

Kawhi Leonard scores 24, Steve Kerr is ejected in Clippers’ win over Warriors

Kawhi Leonard had 24 points and 12 rebounds, rookie Kobe Sanders added 20 points, and the Clippers edged the Golden State Warriors 103-102 on Monday night in a wild game that included Warriors coach Steve Kerr getting ejected and Steph Curry fouling out for the first time since 2021.

Kerr was ejected with 7:57 remaining in the game after becoming irate when the Clippers’ John Collins wasn’t called for goaltending. A shouting Kerr pursued the referees along the sideline and had to be restrained by his assistants before getting tossed.

Curry scored 27 points but was just four for 15 from three-point range and nine for 23 overall before fouling out with 42 seconds remaining in the game. He fouled out for the first time since Dec. 17, 2021, at Boston.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr is restrained by guard Gary Payton II and assistant coach Terry Stotts as he argues with a referee.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr is restrained by guard Gary Payton II and assistant coach Terry Stotts as he argues with a referee.

(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

James Harden was a late scratch for the Clippers because of right shoulder soreness. But they got double-figure scoring from all five starters, including Sanders, whose points were a career high. Collins added 18 points and Kris Dunn had 16. Ivica Zubac had 11 rebounds.

Jimmy Butler added 24 points for the Warriors, who lost to the Clippers for the eighth straight time on the road.

Curry fouled Dunn with 42 seconds left and the Warriors trailing 101-100 after Curry’s back-to-back three-pointers. Dunn made both free throws before Draymond Green scored in the lane to pull the Warriors within one.

Leonard missed a jumper and the Warriors grabbed the defensive rebound. Butler missed a 16-footer before time expired.

Neither team shot well from three. The Clippers were 10 for 29, while the Warriors were 10 for 41.

The Warriors closed within four early in the fourth before the Clippers outscored them 16-7 to lead 94-81. Leonard scored six and Collins had five.

Golden State ran off nine straight, including seven by Butler, to trail 94-90.

Golden State had won six of eight coming into what was a playoff-like atmosphere that included rapper Snoop Dogg doing commentary for the game streamed on Peacock. It was a matchup of the NBA’s two oldest teams. The average age of the Clippers’ roster is 30.0 to 29.6 for the Warriors.

Green dived for a loose ball and crashed into his team’s bench late in the first half. The team said he sustained a rib contusion, but he remained in the game. Green had 12 assists while going 0 of 6 from three-point range.

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Lakers blow 20-point lead but win after Suns’ Dillon Brooks ejected

LeBron James missed the first free throw that would have tied it. Then, bailed out by a foul with 3.9 seconds remaining, he missed the second. A long-awaited swish finally quieted a restless Phoenix crowd.

The Lakers squandered a 20-point, fourth-quarter lead and survived only after the Suns’ Devin Booker fouled James on a three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left, pulling out a 116-114 win on Sunday.

Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 29 points, James added 26 and Deandre Ayton had 20 points and 13 rebounds against his old team. Playing without Austin Reaves (calf strain), the Lakers attempted 43 free throws in a testy game that featured five technical fouls and one late ejection.

Dillon Brooks hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 12.2 seconds left to complete the Suns’ comeback, but he was ejected after he bumped chests with James and got his second technical foul. Brooks received a technical in the first quarter and James drew a technical in the third after a perceived slight from Brooks, who slapped a loose ball toward James during a pause in the action.

Brooks had 18 points and missed most of the third quarter after picking up his fifth foul.

The Lakers finished that quarter on a 15-0 run, largely off hustle plays from Jake LaRavia. The forward who has averaged 5.1 points in the last 10 games, including two scoreless outings, played more than eight minutes in the first half and had nothing to show for it besides two missed shots and a foul. He made just one shot in the third quarter and watched an easy layup roll around the rim and pop out. But he made an impact on defense with two steals, a block and four rebounds in the quarter.

His defense led to the offensive highlight of the third as he stole a pass and shoveled the ball to Jaxson Hayes in transition. The 7-foot center cocked the ball behind his head on a violent, two-handed dunk over Oso Ighodaro and finished the three-point play from the free-throw line.

Hayes had 12 points and nine rebounds off the bench. After getting just five bench points from anyone not named Marcus Smart in losing their last game to the San Antonio Spurs, the Lakers (18-7) got a balanced 30-point lift from their reserves, including seven from Jarred Vanderbilt, who played his first significant minutes in a month.

Vanderbilt had been relegated to the bench since the return of James, but brought a much-needed lift Sunday as the team hoped to rediscover its defensive mentality. The forward was active on defense, had seven rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench and even hit a three-pointer.

But the Lakers fell out of their rhythm when that second unit went to the bench in the fourth quarter. With their starting five in for the final three minutes, the Lakers let a 111-97 lead evaporate as they missed shots, gave up threes and committed fouls and turnovers.

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