It seemed like a safe bet for the Los Angeles Clippers to rest Kawhi Leonard due to lower back tightness. The Sacramento Kings were coming in on the second night of a back-to-back and a painful 120-100 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder yesterday.

De’Aaron Fox (34 PTS, 3 REB, 8 AST, 4 STL) had other ideas, and went for a career high in points scored in his first victory against the Clippers.

The Kings used a huge 36-14 second quarter to take the lead against the Clippers, and never looked back.

The Clippers were able to rely on their power bench duo of Montrezl Harrell (21 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST, 3 BLK) and Lou Williams (22 PTS, 6 AST, 1 STL) but it wasn’t enough.

They did get a boost with Paul George (8 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST) being back, but he only played 19 minutes and didn’t have a big effect on the game.

In the grand scheme of things, this loss won’t make too big a dent in the Clippers’ playoff hopes. However, it continues to show their vulnerability when they aren’t fielding their squad at full strength.

The Kings, meanwhile, improved to an 18-30 record, but are still way behind in the race for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

OTHER GAMES

Trae Young (39 PTS, 6 REB, 18 AST, 2 STL) seems to be responding to the criticism about his All-Star starter berth, along with the passing of his mentor Kobe Bryant. His stellar game helped the Atlanta Hawks to a surprise 127-117 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Gordon Hayward (25 PTS, 8 REB, 3 AST) continued his improved play of late, helping the Boston Celtics defeat the Golden State Warriors 119-104.

Bradley Beal (34 PTS, 9 REB, 9 AST) narrowly missed a triple-double for the Washington Wizards in a 121-107 win against the Charlotte Hornets.

The Toronto Raptors got a good night from Serge Ibaka (26 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST) in a 115-106 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Denver Nuggets won 106-100 against the Utah Jazz thanks to their star center Nikola Jokic (28 PTS, 4 REB, 10 AST).