NBA highlights on Feb. 25: Clippers contain Sabonis, but don't stop him winning

The Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Clippers 123-107 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, securing their second straight win.

De'Aaron Fox shot to kill within the 3-point line, making 12 of his 18 there to get game-high 33 points in addition to six rebounds, seven assists and three steals for the Kings. He also earned 10 free throws and made nine of them. He had 10, eight and nine points in the final three quarters respectively, enabling his side to outscore the opponents in each of those periods.

Fox included, the Kings had six players reach double-digit points on Sunday night. Though Sabonis only came in third (17 points) on this front, he made the biggest contribution to the team's victory.

Fairly speaking, the Clippers' starting center Ivica Zubac gave Sabonis a hard time on both ends of the game. His size, power and solid footwork limited Sabonis to shooting 7-for-17 from the field. Offensively, as long as Zubac had the ball in the low post, he was always able to make shots over Sabonis' head, making eight of his nine field goal (FG) attempts to get 16 points.

However, what makes Sabonis a big headache for defenders has been his abundant ways to influence the game. Though he couldn't score efficiently, he kept posting up around the free throw line, throwing Zubac into a dilemma. Zubac's defensive priority was to drop back and protect the paint. Nonetheless, as the Kings kept making 3-pointers and long jumpers via handoff plays with Sabonis, Zubac had to close out in the end, making it easier for slashers like Fox to charge the rim.

The Clippers lacked Paul George in Sunday's game. Though George is no longer in his prime anymore, his importance to the team couldn't be displayed better by his absence. Without him, they took hits on both offense and defense. George's ability of constantly moving before catching and shooting from downtown was integral to maintaining good spacing for his teammates. His size and defensive coverage also enabled Kawhi Leonard to save more strengths for individual attack.

Since George didn't play in Sunday's game, coach Tyronn Lue couldn't send their signature small-ball squad to the court for clutch time; James Harden's passing targets became limited; Norman Powell was added to the starting lineup, which hurt the Clippers' bench firepower; Leonard had to shoulder a bigger defensive load, but he was not as good at beating screen as he was at guarding the opponents' ace in isolation.

Leonard, Harden and Powell all did their best within their abilities, but the missing one piece, a key one in George, from the Clippers' rotations, resulted in chain effects and cost the team Sunday's game.

Other games on Sunday (away teams come first):

Los Angeles Lakers 113-123 Phoenix Suns

The Suns kicked the Lakers into a deep pit of a 17-point deficit (45-28) in the first quarter at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Devin Booker alone got 11 points and five assists in that period, but the team-high 24 points went to Grayson Allen who drained six triples out of 12 attempts. Royce O'Neal knocked down six shots behind the arc as well for the team.

The purple and gold worked hard trying to come back and cut the deficit to as little as two points in the third quarter, but their poor offense that generated an FG rate of no better than 45.5 percent in the final period blew their efforts in the end.

Denver Nuggets 119-103 Golden State Warriors

The Warriors were sitting on a 16-point lead (56-40) in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California, on Sunday night. Klay Thompson continued to play off the bench and scored 23 points for the team in the first half.

Nonetheless, that's all the points he got after going 0-for-3 in FGs in the second half. Stephen Curry contributed 14 points in the third period to keep the Warriors from falling apart, but as Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray stepped out to dominate the floor for the Nuggets, the home team saw their lead fade away point by point.

The Warriors were completely shutdown offensively in the fourth quarter as they missed 12 of their 17 FGs, five of their six 3-pointers and five of their 10 free throws. The team delivered no more than four assists this period but with six turnovers.

Having dropped 32 points, 16 rebounds and 14 assists, Jokic got the 123rd triple-double of his career. He assisted Aaron Gordon in finishing a two-handed alley-oop dunk in the 1:45 in the fourth period, making the Warriors throw in the white towel.

Milwaukee Bucks 119-98 Philadelphia 76ers

Dallas Mavericks 111-133 Indiana Pacers

Cleveland Cavaliers 114-105 Washington Wizards

Orlando Magic 92-109 Atlanta Hawks

Oklahoma City Thunder 123-110 Houston Rockets

Chicago Bulls 114-106 New Orleans Pelicans

San Antonio Spurs 109-128 Utah Jazz

Charlotte Hornets 93-80 Portland Trail Blazers