Wednesday night, the Washingtоn Wizards were defeated 125-109 by the Los Angeles Clippers thanks to a strong third quarter that saw Kawhi Leonard score 31 points and James Harden add 25.

The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Washingtоn Wizards 125-109 on Wednesday night thanks to huge third-quarter performances from James Harden and Kawhi Leonard, who combined for 31 points and 25 rebounds.

After leading by ten points in the first half, Los Angeles defeated Washingtоn 39-19 in the third quarter.

With 5:42 remaining in the quarter, Harden extended the advantage to 20 points for the first time with a pullup from the top of the arc. Afterwards, Leonard made it 25 with a forceful slam off a driving, spinning feed from Russell Westbrook, and at the end of the third, Norman Powell’s basket put the score at 106-79.

Harden and Leonard both pulled down nine rebounds. In addition, on a night when the Clippers rested eight-time All-Star Paul George due to groin pаin, Harden drained five 3-pointers to help the team break out of a long-range shooting slump.

Los Angeles Һit under 33% in three consecutive games before going 12 of 30 from 3-point range. When the Clippers benched their starters, they were 12 of 25. On their seven-game journey, they are 3-1.

For Washingtоn, Kyle Kuzma scored 23 of his 27 points in the first half. In the wake of Wes Unseld Jr.’s firing last week, the Wizards are 2-2 under interim coach Brian Keefe.

For the first time since October 30, rookie Bilal Coulibaly scored 19 points in his second career start. He entered the game in lieu of shooting guard Jordan Poole due to an illness.