MILWAUKEE — Bennedict Mathurin scored 28 points, John Collins had 22 and Kawhi Leonard added 20 as the Clippers got past the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks, 127-113, on Sunday afternoon for their fifth consecutive win.
Darius Garland added 15 points and 11 assists and Derrick Jones Jr. contributed 13 points for the Clippers, who shot 58.4% from the field (45 for 77) and completed the two-game season series sweep, blowing the Bucks out twice in the same week after they won, 129-96, on Monday in Inglewood.
The Clippers (39-36) remain in eighth place in the Western Conference standings, 2½ games behind seventh-place Phoenix (41-33), 1½ games ahead of ninth-place Portland (38-38) and three games ahead of 10th-place Golden State (36-39) as those four teams battle for position in the upcoming Play-In Tournament (seeds 7-10) with just a few weeks left in the regular season.
Gary Trent Jr. had a season-high 36 points on 12-of-21 shooting to pace Milwaukee, which had only eight players available. Taurean Prince added 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds, and AJ Green scored 15 for the Bucks, who have lost 10 of their past 12 games and were officially eliminated from postseason contention after their Saturday loss to San Antonio.
The Bucks stayed close early, trailing 29-25 after one quarter with Trent scoring 11 points, including going 3 for 5 from 3-point range.
The Clippers began to pull away in the second quarter, holding a 57-46 lead at halftime after leading by as many as 16. Leonard had 15 first-half points (10 in the second quarter).
The Clippers outscored Milwaukee 39-28 in the third quarter and extended their lead to as many as 24 points in the fourth before the Bucks pulled within 11 in the late stages by shooting 7 for 11 from 3-point range in the final period, when Trent scored 16 points.
The Clippers didn’t sweat too much thanks in large part to the way they took care of business at the free-throw line. They shot 20 for 22 at the foul line in the second half and finished 24 for 28 for the game.
Brook Lopez, a member of the Bucks’ 2021 NBA championship team, was honored with a video tribute in his first visit back to Milwaukee. He was whistled for a technical foul as the teams were headed to the locker room at halftime.
Sloppy play hurt Milwaukee, which committed 22 turnovers, leading to 33 Clippers points.
Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out a seventh consecutive game for Milwaukee with a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. The two-time NBA MVP has played in a career-low 36 games this season.
The Bucks also were missing Kevin Porter Jr. (right knee), Bobby Portis (left wrist sprain), Kyle Kuzma (Achilles tendinopathy), Ryan Rollins (left hip flexor), Myles Turner (right knee), Gary Harris (personal reasons) and Thanasis Antetokounmpo (left calf).
Green and Ousmane Dieng fouled out in the fourth, leaving the Bucks with six available players to finish the game.
UP NEXT
The Clippers host Portland on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
