INGLEWOOD, Calif. — James Harden scored 24 of his 41 points in the first quarter and the Los Angeles Clippers cruised to a 144-107 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night, matching a season-high point total.

Norman Powell had 29 points, Ivica Zubac added 19 points with 12 rebounds and Amir Coffey scored 16 points, ending a three-game losing streak and a two-game home loss streak for the Clippers.

Harden had 34 points at halftime as the Clippers led 81-47. It was the Clippers’ most points in a first half as a team since 82 points in a December 2019 game against Washington.

Jordan Clarkson scored 20 points, Lauri Markkanen added 17 and Collin Sexton had 15 for the Jazz, who lost their third straight game and fell in the eighth game of their last nine games. Utah fell to 3-10 on the road.

Takeaways

Jazz: As the Jazz entered the game at the bottom of the NBA with an average of 119.3 points allowed, the Clippers shot 63.4% in the first half and trailed 81-47 in the game Allowed a shooting rate of 59.8%.

Clippers: Head coach Tyronn Lue has said there is more energy in practice as Kawhi Leonard (knee) approaches his season debut, and it showed early as the team shot 72.7% from 3-point range in the first quarter. distance shot.

Key moment

Harden ran out the shot clock at the end of the first quarter and made a 29-foot 3-pointer that gave him his 24 points in the quarter while surpassing the Jazz, who had 20.

Key statistics

Harden delivered the second-most points in a quarter in Clippers franchise history, behind Lou Williams’ 27 points in the third quarter of a game against Golden State in January 2018.

Next

Jazz visit Detroit on Thursday and Clippers visit Dallas.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL