Balanced Los Angeles Clippers earn season sweep over Sacramento Kings

On a night that required balanced scoring, rookie Landry Shamet had 20 points and Danilo Gallinari had 19 as the visiting Los Angeles Clippers withstood a physical game between playoff contenders and earned a 116-109 victory Friday over the Sacramento Kings.

Lou Williams scored 17 points as the Clippers solidified their hold on a playoff spot in the Western Conference with a month remaining in the regular season.

Buddy Hield scored 23 points despite 6-for-19 shooting and Willie Cauley-Stein added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Kings, who entered just outside of playoff qualification at two games behind the Clippers, but they could not take over down the stretch in their own arena.

It was the Kings who appeared to control the pace of the game with a quick offense and a physical nature, but the Clippers withstood the tempo and physicality even on a night when high-scoring reserve guard Williams had something of an off game.

As late as the final minute of the third quarter, Williams was stuck on four points as he struggled from both the field and the line despite being one of the better free-throw shooters in the NBA at 89.6 percent. Williams, who entered with a team-leading 19.9 points per game, scored 10 in the final quarter.

Gallinari took a key charging foul on Harrison Barnes with nine seconds remaining to preserve the victory.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Montrezl Harrell each scored 15 for the Clippers, while JaMychal Green had 11 rebounds. Barnes and Harry Giles each had 15 for the Kings, while De'Aaron Fox had 12 points and 12 assists.

The first half was a tale of two quarters as the Clippers led in the early going to take a 26-23 lead after the opening quarter and the Kings stormed back to take control for most of the second period, taking a 56-52 lead into halftime.

The Clippers, who lead the league in bench points with 53 per game, had just 16 from their reserves in the first half.

Los Angeles put together a 9-0 run midway through the third quarter to turn a deficit into a 71-64 advantage and held an 87-82 lead at the end of three quarters. Los Angeles then built that lead to 13 but the Kings closed in with a 10-0 run of their own.

The Clippers went a perfect 4-0 against the Kings on the season and have won each of the last nine meetings against Sacramento. —Field Level Media/Reuters