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Sacramento Kings guard DeMar DeRozan passes the ball to Sacramento Kings guard Devin Carter (22) past Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Randall Benton)
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Sacramento Kings guard DeMar DeRozan passes the ball to Sacramento Kings guard Devin Carter (22) past Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Randall Benton)
SACRAMENTO — Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points and John Collins added 25 as the Clippers moved back into eighth place in the Western Conference standings with a 138-109 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.
Leonard scored 13 points in the first quarter as the Clippers raced out to a double-digit lead and coasted against a Kings team that is playing out the string of a lost season.
Darius Garland and Kobe Sanders each scored 17 points, while Kris Dunn and Jordan Miller added 13 each as the Clippers (40-38) ended a two-game losing streak while winning their fourth consecutive road game.
The Clippers have the same record as the Portland Trail Blazers but now own the eighth spot in the standings via tiebreaker, having won two of the three games between the teams. The teams square off for a final time on Friday night in Portland, where the Clippers can secure the head-to-head tiebreaker with a win.
The No. 7 and No. 8 teams in the standings meet in the Play-In Tournament for a chance to advance directly into a best-of-seven first-round playoff series against the No. 2 seed, while the ninth- and 10th-place teams have to win two Play-In games for the right to be the No. 8 seed and face the top seed.
Devin Carter scored 21 points and Nique Clifford had 18 to lead Sacramento (21-58), which saw its two-game winning streak come to an end. Maxime Raynaud added 11 points and 15 rebounds for his 18th double-double of the season, the most among all rookies.
The Clippers opened the game with a 42-point first quarter and took a 71-59 lead at halftime by shooting 56.5% over the first two quarters. After leading by as many as 19 points in the first half, they took their first 20-point lead with 7:53 remaining in the third.
The Clippers went into the fourth quarter with a 107-79 lead and were never threatened the rest of the way.
Collins came off the bench for the Clippers after starting the previous nine games, while Dunn was effective in his first start over the last eight games.
Leonard increased his franchise-record streak of consecutive 20-point games to 54.
The Clippers finished 53.3% from the floor and 20 for 41 (48.8%) from 3-point range while the Kings shot 52.9% overall, 28.1% from behind the arc and committed 20 turnovers.
The Kings, who have struggled with injury issues this season but have gone 7-8 since March 8, remained in a tie with Utah for the fourth-worst record in the NBA with three games left. Sacramento is tied for the third-most losses in franchise history, having lost 59 games in 1989-90 and 65 in 2008-09.
DeMar DeRozan scored nine points in 10 minutes in the first half to give him 26,711 career points, moving past Oscar Robertson (26,710) for 16th place on the NBA’s career list. DeRozan didn’t play at all in the second half.
UP NEXT
The Clippers host Dallas on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Of the Clippers’ four remaining games, two are against teams below them in the standings. The Blazers also have four games remaining, with the next three against fourth-place Denver (50-28), second-place San Antonio (59-19) and the Clippers.