Russell Westbrook scored 23 points to become the 25th NBA player to reach 25,000 points, Kawhi Leonard scored 21 of his 33 points in the first half, and the Los Angeles Clippers outscored the Detroit Pistons 136-125 on Friday night.
Westbrook, who also had nine assists, joined teammate James Harden on the list of players with 25,000 points, which Harden reached in December. Westbrook hit the mark on his final basket, a running layup with 2:44 remaining.
“I’m so grateful to be on this team,” said Westbrook, who fouled Cade Cunningham after making his basket and celebrated with his teammates on the bench. “I don’t take any of this for granted.”
Los Angeles started slowly, down by as much as 14 points in the opening quarter, but rallied to score 109 points in the following three quarters. They made 59.6% of their shots from the floor and 48.3% of their 3-point attempts.
“We made a lot of defensive mistakes at the beginning of the game,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “We didn’t guard their shooters as anticipated, but after the first timeout, we started paying attention to detail. Monty (Williams) has the Pistons playing well, but closing games is difficult with such a young squad.
Paul George chipped in with 18 points for the Clippers, who have won seven of their last eight games.
After missing the previous game due to groin pain, George played 27:20.
“He looked good,” Lue stated. “We were going to play him more minutes, but we didn’t need him.”
Detroit is 4-41 after a 2-1 start, with Jalen Ivey scoring 28 points and Bojan Bogdanovic adding 26. Marcus Sasser contributed 21 points.
“You can’t have turnovers and some of the undisciplined errors we had against a team like that,” said Williams, whose team gave up 25 points and 17 boards. “It’s something that has harmed us all season long. When we take care of the ball, we have a better chance of succeeding.”
The Clippers led 65-59 at halftime, and their scoring pace continued throughout the third quarter. Leonard scored 30 points with five minutes remaining in the quarter, putting Los Angeles ahead 89-80.
Detroit responded with an 8-0 run before Westbrook’s 3-pointer. Norman Powell’s last-second three-pointer gave the Clippers a 101-90 lead heading into the fourth.
Powell opened the fourth quarter with another three, and Los Angeles led 108-90 after the first minute. Detroit closed within 116-109, but the Clippers scored nine points in 74 seconds to seal the win.
After the game, Westbrook and Ivey had a quick talk.
“I actually got to work out with Russ before the start of my rookie year,” Ivey told reporters. “He provided me tons of advice. He’s really a wonderful, humble person. He took me under his wing for a little while.”
