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Kawhi Leonard scored a season-high 41 points and James Harden added 29 as the Clippers beat the Houston Rockets 128-108 on Tuesday night.

Leonard shot 16 for 23 from the field and four for five from long distance as the Clippers won consecutive games for just the second time this season. The Clippers were coming off a 103-88 win over the Lakers on Saturday that broke a five-game skid. The Clippers also won consecutive games Oct. 24-26, against Phoenix and Portland.

Harden, who shot seven for 14 from the field and three for eight from long distance, was helped by 12-for-13 shooting from the line.

John Collins and Kobe Sanders added 13 points apiece and Kris Dunn scored 11 for the Clippers (8-21), who shot 54% (20 for 37) from three-point range.

Kevin Durant scored 22 points on eight-for-15 shooting, and Alperen Sengun finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds for Houston (17-10), which was nine for 30 (30%) from long distance.

Amen Thompson added 19 points for Houston, and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 16 for the Rockets, who have lost four of their last five games.

The Clippers, who trailed by six points after one period, outscored Houston 34-23 in the second and led 63-58 at the break. The Rockets were helped by 10-for-22 shooting from three-point range in the first half. Leonard had 18 points on eight-for-12 shooting in the opening quarters and Harden scored 11.

Durant had 17 first-half points to lead the Rockets. Sengun scored 15 and Smith had 11.

The Clippers led 98-82 after three periods.

“I thought, in terms of attitude, the ability to stick in the game for 80 minutes was the most pleasing.”

Those were Harlequins coach Jason Gilmore’s words after his side stuck to cross-town rivals Saracens with a performance of cunning and commitment back in October.

He has not seen much to please him since. Quins have lost three out of their last four Prem games, with Bristol running in four unanswered first-half tries to wreck the hosts’ Big Game party at Allianz Stadium.

It was a worryingly feeble showing on the biggest stage.

Their tackle success was down at 76% and despite shading 22 entries 17 to 12, they had little of Bristol’s attacking glint, until Marcus Smith jinked over late on with the game already gone.

Quins have plenty of quality. Luke Northmore and Oscar Beard are a punchy, play-making midfield duo, Cadan Murley and Rodrigo Isgro offer pace and panache out wide while Tyrone Green and Nick David are consistent top-flight performers.

Up front, Harry Williams and Guido Petti arrived in the summer to add grunt and snarl to a pack that already contains Fin Baxter, Chandler Cunningham-South, Alex Dombrandt and Jack Kenningham as well as Will Evans’ ground game.

But it isn’t clicking.

SAN FRANCISCO — Freshman Jazzy Davidson scored a go-ahead layup with 4:05 remaining and finished with a season-best 24 points, leading the No. 19 USC women past California 61-57 on Sunday in the Invisalign Bay Area Women’s Classic.

After Davidson’s basket, Londynn Jones hit a jumper the next time down as USC used a 6-0 burst to take control. The Trojans answered each Cal threat with a key defensive play or big basket.

Cal called time out with 43.8 seconds left and trailing 56-54, but as the Golden Bears tried to set up a play, USC’s Kennedy Smith made a steal of Sakima Walker’s bad pass.

Davidson, one of four Trojans averaging double digits in scoring, shot nine for 21 with three three-pointers. She scored 14 points by halftime as USC led 31-28 and held Cal to five three-point attempts while forcing 11 turnovers.

The Trojans scored 15 points off 18 turnovers by Cal (8-5).

Walker led the Golden Bears with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Lulu Twidale and Taylor Barnes each scored 11.

The longtime Pac-12 rivals reunited at Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors — and fans hurried down the stairs for a glimpse of injured USC star JuJu Watkins walking in with the Trojans (9-3).

The game featured fifth-year USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb against her former Cal program that she led to its first Final Four after the 2012-13 season. Gottlieb coached the Golden Bears from 2011-19.

Cal’s Gisella Maul went down hard in the closing moments of the third quarter and walked to the locker room.

After the Bears shot five for 20 from three-point range in a 78-69 loss at Stanford on Dec. 14, they were just one for 11 from deep.

The Trojans completed their nonconference schedule, which included wins over top-25 opponents North Carolina State and Washington.

Up next for USC: Trojans open Big Ten play Monday at Nebraska.

Charlie Smyth celebrated his new three-year contract as he kicked 17 points in the New Orleans Saints’ 29-6 win over the New York Jets.

Former Gaelic footballer Smyth was rewarded for his match-winning kick against the Carolina Panthers with a spot on the Saints’ 53-man roster, along with a new deal.

The 24-year-old either had to be permanently promoted to the roster or released having been elevated from the Saints’ practice squad on three previous occasions.

Smyth had his best showing in the NFL in Sunday’s win over the Jets as he kicked five field goals and landed two extra point attempts.

“I want to give great credit to the offence and defence today. We are starting to play some real complementary football here,” Smyth said after the win.

“The support from everyone in New Orleans has been unreal. This team has stuck together and that is why the wins have started to come.”

In Smyth’s four NFL outings to date, the Saints have won three times and he has had a successful onside kick, which had a 7% success rate, a match-winning kick and 17 points in a single game.

It was a game to remember for Londynn Jones. She played with confidence and showed her dribbling skills and displaying her all-around skills as she finished the game with a career-high 28 points in the USC women’s basketball team’s 86-39 win over Cal Poly on Thursday night at Galen Center.

In the first part of the game, Jones was perfect on offense while aggressively defending every time the Mustangs had the ball. When Cal Poly attacked, she came up with steals and completed the play with a field goal, sometimes even adding one more point on a foul.

“I’m just happy we’re figuring it out, starting to finally put the pieces together,” she said. “I know that’s something we’ve been emphasizing in practice, just watching films and putting the pieces together.”

Jones finished the game making 11 out of 16 field goals, and Jazzy Davidson scored 17 points and had nine rebounds.

The Trojans (8-3) looked sluggish in the first half, with Davidson making only three of 11 field goals, and the Mustangs (2-9) grabbing 15 rebounds. But as the game progressed, the USC defense forced Cal Poly to run out the shot clock on multiple occasions and caused 27 turnovers while scoring 39 points off of them.

“We sort of played the way we wanted to, for a majority of the game, and that’s encouraging,” coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.

After losing to Connecticut 79-51 on Saturday, Gottlieb wanted to see her team play with intention while defending, she wanted them to pressure on the ball, and she wanted to see participation from all the players on the court, at once.

Offensively, she wanted her team to do the simple things better. Gottlieb wanted them to create space and have better movement.

“I saw that in practice and I think we saw a lot of it in the game tonight, too,” she said. “But, it’ll continue to be a work in progress.

The Trojans started the third quarter with 10 unanswered points. Cal Poly scored only five points in the quarter, allowing the Trojans to extend their advantage, closing out the third quarter with a 43-point lead, 71-28.

The Trojans finished the game with 15 steals and the bench scoring 45 points. As a whole, the team finished the game with 44 rebounds, with the majority of them coming from the offense.

“I thought our defensive intensity created more open looks for us,” Gottlieb said.

Yakiya Milton was a big part of that with her eight rebounds with four blocks in 10 minutes of play. One of the four blocks came when she stopped a Mustang drive to the basket and protected the rim. Something that Gottlieb preached during practice, she said.

“I try to capitalize on any opportunity I’m given,” Milton said. “I’m trying to play with as much energy and intensity as I can.”

As the Trojans look ahead to a stretch of Big 10 games against Nebraska and UCLA, Gottlieb doesn’t see a starting five. She sees the strengths of her team to be how deep their roster is.

“No one played 30 minutes at all and maybe that’s a little bit atypical, but we do believe that we can play different kinds of lineups, different people who have different skill sets, different looks,” she said.

And with the help of Jones, who has been to the Final Four with UCLA and has played in big conference games, she knows the team will feed off her energy and play with confidence

“I mean, she was wearing the wrong colors or the other colors,” Gottlieb quipped. “But you know, she’s been in situations and that experience is premium.”

“She’s going to bring that confidence and swagger no matter what,” she added.