WASHINGTON (AP) - Kawhi Leonard made a comfortable return with 14 points as the Los Angeles Clippers held off city rivals the Lakers 103-97, while Wesley Matthews’ late three-pointer sent the Milwaukee Bucks past the Philadelphia 76ers 90-88 on Thursday.
Coming off the bench, Leonard also grabbed seven rebounds in 21 minutes in his first game since tearing a ligament in his right knee in a playoff game in June 2021.
Despite resting their star forward in the first quarter, the Clippers had a 35-23 cushion at the quarter’s end and rode on an 11-0 scoring run midway through the second quarter to extend their advantage to 16 points. It was capped by Anthony Davis’ 3-pointer that initiated a 10-0 surge for the Lakers, and both teams were tied 56-56 at halftime.
The Clippers scored 17 points in a row in the third quarter to pull away again, but resilient Lakers erased their 15-point deficit before taking an 89-87 lead with 8:01 to play on Lonnie Walker’s alley-oop, but failed to keep that momentum in their second consecutive loss.
Walker logged a game-high 26 points and Davis had 25 points for the Lakers. LeBron James posted 20 points and 10 rebounds.
But the Lakers guards had nightmare performance, with Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley and Kendrick Nunn combining to shoot 1 of 25 from the field, and the Lakers made nine 3-pointers from 45 overall.
With Leonard back and the addition of five-time All-Star John Wall, the Clippers displayed their balanced offense in their season debut, with six players hitting double figures.