Clippers 117, Kings 107
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Chris Paul and the Clippers bid Sleep Train Arena adieu in typical style Friday, with the guard lighting up Sacramento for 40 points, and Los Angeles rolling to a 117-107 victory over the Kings.
Paul torched the Kings on 13-for-20 shooting and added 13 assists and eight rebounds. Paul posted his fifth career 30-point game against Sacramento and scored 13 of them during a 34-11 Los Angeles blitz to close the third quarter.
Newly acquired forward Jeff Green added 22 points for Los Angeles. Green made three 3-pointers during a 20-0 run during that closing third-quarter stretch, and the Clippers closed their history at Sleep Train Arena with six consecutive victories. Los Angeles played the first game ever in the arena, christening it with a 108-104 in over the Kings in their Sacramento debut Oct. 25, 1985.
They also improved to 21-7 without forward Blake Griffin and are 13-3 on the road since Christmas, the best mark in the NBA.
Center DeMarcus Cousins scored 26 points, pulled 15 rebounds and added nine assists for Sacramento. But the Kings (24-33) played without starting guard and NBA assists leader Rajon Rondo and lost their second straight following a three-game winning streak.
Rondo sat out with pain in his right thumb that apparently increased Wednesday, a day after his 18-assist effort in Sacramento's loss to San Antonio. He is questionable to play in Sacramento's home game against Oklahoma City on Monday.
Forward Rudy Gay added 18 points, and guard Seth Curry scored 19 points in 26 minutes for Sacramento. Guard Darren Collision also scored 18 points.
The Clippers, already without Griffin and guard Austin Rivers (left hand fracture), played without forward Paul Pierce. The team announced during the shootaround that Pierce left the team for personal reasons.
Without him, Los Angeles received 21 points off the bench from guard Jamal Crawford. Reddick added 16 points, and center DeAndre Jordan 11 rebounds for the Clippers.
NOTES: Kings G Darren Collison made his fifth start of the season in place of injured G Rajon Rondo (thumb). Last season, Collison started all 45 games he played before suffering a season-ending injury. ... Clippers G Chris Paul, who has persevered through a sore left calf and bruised left thigh, played his 39th straight game despite what the Los Angeles Times reported to be a right forearm injury suffered against the Denver Nuggets. The Clippers did not list Paul on their injury report. ... F Quincy Acy, coming off a 15-point night against San Antonio, has started all four of Sacramento's games since the All-Star break. His presence pushed rookie C Willie Cauley-Stein to the bench. Cauley-Stein, fourth among NBA rookies in blocked shots, averaged 18.3 minutes in the first three games since the switch.