Dec. 31, 2025, 2:00 a.m. ET
Sacramento saw the return of Keegan Murray but it wasn’t enough to stop the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. The Clippers beat the Kings, 131-90, on Dec. 30 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
It was the sixth consecutive victory for the Clippers, who have been rolling. Despite getting rotational big man Drew Eubanks back from injury, the Kings suffered back-to-back losses in their short trip to Southern California.
Kawhi Leonard had a game-high 33 points for Los Angeles. Clippers guard James Harden had 21. They got some bench production from rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser, who scored a career-high 16 points off the bench.
Murray had a tough outing in his return, scoring 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. However, rookie forward Nique Clifford scored a career-high 18 points. Kings rookie center Maxime Raynaud recorded another double-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds and added two blocks.
The Clippers move to 11-21, as the Kings fall to 8-25.
Next up for the Clippers are the Utah Jazz on Jan. 1. The Kings have the Boston Celtics at home for their next game on Jan. 1.
Game highlights
1st quarter highlights
Sacramento found itself trailing by 14 to open the game against the Clippers. At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers led the Kings, 34-20.
James Harden scored 12 points in the opening quarter. Kawhi Leonard had eight points. DeMar DeRozan had five points for the Kings.
2nd quarter highlights
Sacramento came out flat in the second and Los Angeles’ lead grew as large as 36 points. Harden and Leonard, combined, outscored the Kings in the first half, 42-40.
Leonard scored 18 in the second quarter alone. The Clippers would get first-half contributions from John Collins with 12 points and two blocks, and Kris Dunn with eight points and two steals.
The Kings were held to 32% from the field on 14-of-44 shooting. Sacramento went into the locker room down 73-40.
3rd quarter highlights
The Clipper defense continued to stifle Sacramento, as they forced missed shots and turnovers. The Kings had 13 turnovers, compared Los Angeles’ three turnovers after the third quarter.
The Kings had some highlight plays such as a thread the needle pass from Russell Westbrook to Keegan Murray near the basket for a dunk.
The Kings didn’t get their first fast break points until a rebound and coast-to-coast layup by DeRozan with 5:39 remaining in the third quarter.
Nique Clifford played more minutes and made the most of it. He knocked down a couple of 3-pointers and connected from the mid-range. Clifford scored 10 points in the quarter.
The Kings were down, 100-71, to end the third quarter.
4th quarter highlights
The Clippers’ onslaught continued. They responded with smothering defense, which turned into easy offense. Los Angeles hit on 3-pointers and slammed down alley-oop dunks.
Malik Monk provided a long distance field goal in the fourth, his only basket of the night. Eubanks got a baseline dunk in the final period. He ended the game with six points in 13 minutes in his return.
The Kings were outscored 31-19 in the fourth quarter.
Kings keys to victory
- Don’t allow L.A.’s veteran superstars to dominate: The Clippers have two guys who can fill up the stat sheet in James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. Leonard is coming off of a career-high 55 points against the Pistons. Harden quietly added 28 in that game. The Kings have to focus on these two, not allowing them to go on a scoring rampage. This task was easier said than done. Leonard and Harden combined for 54, scoring 33 and 21, respectively.
- Hustle and effort:The Kings have to rely on their energy to take them to the level that they aspire to be at. Guys have to dive on the floor, be the first to loose balls and be aggressive defensively. Grab rebounds, get steals and blocked shots. Sacramento only had one steal in the entire game, compared to its 18 turnovers.
- Defend the paint: The Clippers are a top-15 team in the NBA when it comes to players driving to the basket, led by James Harden who is 13th at drives-to-the-basket. Sacramento needs to contain that with defensive team rotations in help, moving their feet, be in the right spots to defend shots or a lob pass attempt. Try and take a charge, or two. A tough task to handle, Harden shot 12 free throws, the Clippers as a team shot 32.
- Play aggressive on offense: The Kings should look to play aggressive on offense: drive to the hole early and often, get their bigs like Ivica Zubac and Brook Lopez in foul trouble and get to the free throw line. Play inside-out to create open looks from 3-point distance. Zubac did not play and Lopez only had one foul all game, as did their backup rookie center Yanic Konan Niederhauser. Sacramento only shot 14 free throws.
Kings next five games
- Jan. 1 vs. Boston Celtics
- Jan. 2 at Phoenix Suns
- Jan. 4 vs. Milwaukee Bucks
- Jan. 6 vs. Dallas Mavericks
- Jan. 9 at Golden State Warriors