INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points, Bennedict Mathurin added 28 points, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the New York Knicks 126-118 on Monday night to climb back to .500 for the first time since early November.

The Clippers are 32-32 and have won five of their first six games in March as they try to improve their potential position in the NBA Play-in Tournament. They began the season in a 6-21 tailspin.

It was Leonard's 42nd straight game with 20-plus points, the second-longest active streak in the NBA and third-longest in team history.

Mathurin scored 22 in the second half off the bench as one of five Clippers in double figures. Darius Garland had 23 points and seven assists in his second start.

Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knicks with 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting, 12 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out in the final seconds. Jalen Brunson added 28 points and OG Anunoby had 22 points.

Buoyed by chants of “Let's go Knicks!” at Intuit Dome, New York cut its deficit from 15 points with a 17-9 run, including six in a row from Brunson, to go into the fourth trailing 88-81.

The Knicks three times closed within five over the final four minutes. But the Clippers controlled the final two minutes, helped by Mathurin's three-point play and a 3-pointer by Derrick Jones Jr..

Standing third in the Eastern Conference race, the Knicks split the season series with the Clippers, and have not beaten them in Los Angeles since 2022. New York has dropped three of four.

The Clippers opened the game by making four consecutive 3-pointers and led most of the first half, which ended in a scoring duel between Leonard and Towns. Leonard scored 10 in a row for the Clippers and Towns had eight straight for the Knicks, who trailed 64-55 at the break.

Up next

Knicks: Visit the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.

Clippers: Host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Trent Perry scored 20 points and UCLA led all the way in ending No. 9 Nebraska's three-game winning streak with a 72-52 victory on Tuesday night.

The Bruins (20-10, 12-7 Big Ten) notched 20 wins for the seventh time in 10 years and closed their home schedule with a 17-1 mark at Pauley Pavilion, where they also beat ranked Purdue and Illinois.

Sophomore Perry and junior Eric Dailey Jr. upstaged Tyler Bilodeau, Donovan Dent and Skyy Clark on Senior Night.

Dailey finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Bilodeau, UCLA's leading scorer at 17.9 points, was held to eight. Dent had four points and eight assists after averaging 15.7 points and 12.7 assists in his last three games. Clark had eight points while in foul trouble along with Dent.

The loss knocked the Cornhuskers (25-5, 14-5) out of a second-place tie with idle Michigan State in the Big Ten. They were led by Sam Hoiberg with 12 points. Rienk Mast and Cale Jacobsen had 11 points each.

Nebraska came in averaging 11.2 3-pointers, with Hoiberg and Pryce Sandfort hitting 42% from long range. But the Bruins' defense held the Huskers to 5 of 24, while UCLA made 10 from long range.

The Bruins led 37-24 at halftime after Perry’s 3-pointer capped an 8-0 run.

Up next

Nebraska: Hosts Iowa on Sunday to close regular season.

UCLA: Visits crosstown rival USC on Saturday to end regular season.

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