INGLEWOOD — Kawhi Leonard seemed off from the start. He was slow-footed and lacked focus, missing six of his first seven shots, including all four 3-point attempts.
As it turned out, he just needed a bit of time.
Once the future Hall of Famer got started, he kept going, finishing with 28 points on 8-of-18 shooting to lead the Clippers to a 129-96 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night at the Intuit Dome.
Leonard extended his franchise record by scoring at least 20 points in his 48th consecutive game.
His 252nd 20-point game as a Clipper surpassed Elton Brand for the fourth-most in franchise history. He also set a career high for 3-point shots made in a single season with 149.
Leonard, who sat out the fourth quarter, also made all nine of his free throws and contributed five rebounds, three assists and three steals in just 25 minutes.
Brook Lopez added 19 points, three rebounds and three assists, while Kobe Sanders also had 19 points. Darius Garland finished with 15 points and six assists and Jordan Miller had 10 points and four assists, as the Clippers got back to a .500 record at 36-36.
They remain in eighth place in the Western Conference with 10 games left in the regular season, trying to secure the best possible seed for next month’s four-team Play-In Tournament (seeds 7-10). Portland (36-37) is a half-game back of the Clippers, while 10th-place Golden State (34-38) is two games back.
While Leonard sat after playing the first eight minutes, the rest of the Clippers kept them afloat in the first half. Garland picked up the slack with Sanders chipping in 11 first-half points.
Leonard returned to the game at the 8:53 mark of the second quarter and went to work, scoring 22 of his game-high points on 6-of-14 shooting in the first half. After making two free throws, he scored the Clippers’ next 11 points for a 57-39 lead, well on their way to a 71-47 cushion by halftime.
Leonard and Garland, who were both on the floor to start the third, continued to dismantle the Bucks and stretch the Clippers’ lead to 37 points. Lopez buried his fourth 3-pointer to push the Clippers ahead 87-50 with 7:41 left in the quarter.
Lopez added a fifth 3-pointer to give the Clippers their biggest lead through two-plus quarters (96-52) at the 4:30 mark. He shot 7 for 9 from the field and 5 for 6 from 3-point range.
The Clippers shot 17 for 38 (43.6%) from 3-point range and 47 for 81 (58%) from the field. They also made all 18 of their free throws.
The Clippers don’t often attempt 38 shots from behind the arc. That’s not their style, but they have been on a roll.
Behind Garland’s dynamic high-arcing shots from outside, they are quickly becoming a solid long-range shooting team. In their last game, they made 21 of 42 from deep in an overtime win against the Dallas Mavericks and followed that with another impressive performance on Monday.
“It’s just been different,” Coach Tyronn Lue said. “I mean, some games we might get up 38 and some games we get 22. It’s been different. I think it’s all predicated on how teams guard us.”
Namely, Leonard.
“If teams are going to double-team Kawhi, then we should get open 3’s or if teams going to double-team Brook. … We know how we should play. Things like that. It’s got to be more out of how we play than the style of play. I don’t think we can just come down to just jack 3’s. I don’t think we’re that type of team. Not right now.”
Milwaukee was looking for a last-gasp effort to reach the postseason with three weeks remaining in the regular season, but the Bucks’ slim odds got even longer with a lopsided loss that left them eight games out of the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.
Gary Trent Jr. paced the Bucks with 20 points off the bench. Ryan Rollins led their starters with 13, and Milwaukee had five players in double figures. The Bucks have lost 10 of their past 14 games, including three of four since sitting two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo because of a hyperextended left knee.
Former Clippers forward Kevin Porter Jr. (knee) and forward Kyle Kuzma (Achilles) also were out, leaving the Bucks with just 11 available players.
Before the game, Milwaukee waived guard Cam Thomas, less than two months after signing him.
_More to come on this story._