NBA: Clippers squander big early lead but hold off Mavs

Kawhi Leonard scored 34 points and Darius Garland added 22 as the Los Angeles Clippers boosted their play-in tournament standing with a 116-103 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday in Inglewood, California.

John Collins contributed 12 points, while Derrick Jones Jr. added 11 points and 10 rebounds, helping the eighth-place Clippers (41-38) move a full game ahead of the ninth-place Portland Trail Blazers.

The Clippers and Blazers will meet Friday in Portland as both teams compete for the valuable eighth-place play-in spot. Los Angeles has now won seven of its last nine games since an overtime victory at Dallas on March 21.

For the Mavericks (25-54), Cooper Flagg scored 25 points and Marvin Bagley III added 21. Flagg, 19, reached the 25-point mark for the 21st time in his rookie season, following back-to-back 45- and 51-point games. Max Christie and Ryan Nembhard each added 12 points for Dallas, which lost for the third time in four matchups against the Clippers this season.

The Clippers started strong with a 17-0 run just over three minutes into the game, building a 23-point lead in the opening quarter and ending the period ahead 39-26. The Mavericks chipped away in the second quarter, pulling within 65-55 at halftime, then took their first lead at 78-77 on a 3-pointer by Klay Thompson with 3:20 remaining in the third.

Los Angeles responded with a 12-4 run to close the third, with Leonard scoring 10 points, giving the Clippers an 89-84 lead entering the fourth quarter. The team then pulled away with a late 13-3 run, highlighted by a dunk from Bennedict Mathurin, extending the lead to 112-96 with 3:15 remaining.

Leonard shot 11-of-19 from the floor as the Clippers finished with a 44.6% shooting percentage. The Mavericks struggled, shooting just 35% overall and 18.2% from three-point range. Thompson scored 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting, including 1-of-10 from beyond the arc.

—Field Level Media/Reuters