Clippers down Lakers in 'Battle of LA', Nuggets sink Pacers

LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Clippers took full advantage of the injury absence of LeBron James on Tuesday (Jan 23)  to score a 127-116 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points and James Harden added 23 as the Clippers' impressive recent form continued with a third straight victory.

Former Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook was among six Clippers players to reach double figures in a balanced offensive performance by Tyronn Lue's side.

The Lakers, missing James due to a sore ankle, were led by D'Angelo Russell with 27 points while Anthony Davis finished with 26.

After briefly trailing early in the first quarter, the Clippers maintained control, leading by 16 points just before half-time and successfully keeping the Lakers at arm's length for most of the game.

Although the Lakers got to within two points midway through the fourth quarter, the Clippers tightened their defense and pulled away late in the game.

"For us we're taking it day by day," Westbrook said aftewards.

"We've got so much talent, so many great Hall-of-Famers in this locker room and our job is to make sure that every night we keep chipping away."

Tuesday's victory leaves the Clippers in fourth place in the Western Conference standings with 28 wins against 14 losses, behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets.

In other games on Tuesday, Oklahoma City Thunder moved to top spot in the West with a nail-biting 111-109 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Jalen Williams' pull-up jump shot with two seconds remaining sealed the win for the Thunder, who trailed by nine points in the third quarter.

"It's a shot I work on a lot," Williams said afterwards. "Coach drew the play up for me to shoot it. He had a lot of