INGLEWOOD — Clippers guard Norman Powell skipped, yes skipped, onto the Intuit Dome court for Sunday’s tipoff against the Charlotte Hornets.
It was obvious by his exuberant grade-school entrance that he was excited to be back playing after missing the past 12 games and all but nine brief minutes in a game against the Lakers on March 1.
Although Powell didn’t contribute much to the Clippers’ 123-88 victory against the Hornets, it was his first step in re-integrating into the lineup that had adjusted to playing without their leading scorer.
With Powell’s slow-roll re-entry (he scored seven points in 22 minutes), the Clippers (38-30) again looked to James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac to notch their third consecutive victory.
Harden finished with a game-high 31 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range, plus 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Leonard contributed 23 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Zubac posted another double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds and had a career-high eight assists.
Powell had missed five games coming out of the All-Star break because of a sore left knee, then injured his hamstring against the Lakers in his first game back, causing him to sit out the next seven games.
His absence had left the Clippers without their leading scorer and with the task of finding ways to make up for his 24.3 points a game. Coach Tyronn Lue didn’t have to look far down his bench.
It was the big three, with help at times from Nico Batum, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Derrick Jones Jr., who guided the Clippers through a successful stretch of winning four of their past five games.
Lue said the Clippers not only picked it up defensively, but “taking what the defense gives us (to score), not trying to force it.
“(We were) understanding how we want to play through guys, and I think we’re getting more comfortable playing through Kawhi, playing through Zu, and James is just James.”
In the past 10 games, Harden averaged 26.2 points, which included a 50-point performance, 5.3 rebounds and 9.6 assists. He scored 23 of his points Sunday in the first half to give the Clippers a commanding 65-41 halftime lead.
Less than two minutes into the third quarter, the Clippers’ lead swelled to 30 points (73-43) on a 3-pointer by Leonard. They led by as many as 35 points in the final quarter.
They shot 48.4% from the field and connected on 13 of 26 3-point attempts for 50% in the 35-point victory.
The victory came in the first of four home games this week, the last three against top contenders – the Cleveland Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I know that once we’re home, and once we’re healthy, we will be able to score the basketball,” Lue said. “It’s just going to be our Intensity and attention to detail defensively, taking care of the basketball, rebounding the basketball, getting back into transition, making teams play against our half-court defense. When we’re doing that, that’s when we are at our best.”
The Clippers showed a preview of that kind of focus against the Hornets (17-50), who sit second-to-last in the Eastern Conference, despite having LaMelo Ball back in the lineup.
Ball and center Mark Williams paced the Hornets. Ball finished with 16 points and five assists and Williams posted a double-double with 18 points,15 rebounds and had seven assists.
Hornets without Tre Mann, Grant Williams and Brandon Miller are out for the season, while Josh Okogie is dealing with a hamstring issue.