James Harden scored 43 points, his most since March 2021, and the Los Angeles Clippers sent the host Washington Wizards to their 13th consecutive loss in a 121-96 rout on Wednesday.
Harden, whose season high coming into the contest was 29 points, eclipsed that total before halftime when he was fouled on a 3-point attempt at the second-quarter buzzer. Knocking down all three foul shots, Harden went into the locker room with 31 points — and the Clippers capped a 16-2 run to close the period, giving them a 61-44 lead.
Los Angeles held Washington without a point for 5:19 of that run. Then, in the third quarter, the Clippers kept the Wizards without a made field goal for a stretch lasting 3:19.
Harden connected on back-to-back 3-pointers in the third quarter to help Los Angeles blow the game open. He reached the 40-point mark for and first since the 2020-21 season before the end of the period.
Harden, and the rest of the Clippers starters, sat the entire fourth quarter with the game well in hand.
The Los Angeles lead swelled to as many as 33 points in the final period, and the Clippers cruised to their sixth win in seven games. The latest victory was the fifth time in that seven-game span in which Los Angeles held its opponent to 99 points or fewer.
Ivica Zubac recorded his fifth consecutive double-double with 18 points (on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor) and 16 rebounds. Jordan Miller added 15 points off the bench on 7-of-10 field-goal shooting, and Bones Hyland knocked down 3 of 6 3-point attempts on the way to 10 points.
Rookie Alexandre Sarr had his third straight double-figure-point scoring game for Washington, finishing with 13 points. He also grabbed five rebounds.
Malcolm Brogdon and Jonas Valanciunas shared the Wizards’ team high with 17 points. Valanciunas also grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds.
Washington shot just 35-for-85 (41.2 percent) from the floor and 8-for-33 (24.2 percent) from 3-point range, and Los Angeles converted 20 Wizards turnovers into 31 points. With the defeat, the Wizards matched the third-longest losing streak in franchise history, after 16-game stretches in 2009-10 and 2023-24.