Sacramento Kings vs Los Angeles Clippers Match Player Stats On Apr 12, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Apr 13, 2017

LOS ANGELES -- It took until the final night of the regular season to make it official, but the Los Angeles Clippers secured home-court advantage for the first round of the NBA playoffs.

DeAndre Jordan had 18 points and 17 rebounds, J.J. Redick added 18 points, and Chris Paul had 17 as the Clippers downed the Sacramento Kings 115-95 on Wednesday night at Staples Center in the regular season finale.

Los Angeles goes into the postseason as the winners of seven consecutive games, the longest active win streak in the league.

The victory means the Clippers (51-31) will host the Utah Jazz in the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs, beginning on Saturday night in downtown Los Angeles. The Jazz, who defeated San Antonio 101-97 on Wednesday, finished with an identical record to the Clippers, but Los Angeles took the fourth seed on the tiebreaker by taking the season series from Utah 3-1.

The Kings (32-50) had little to play for but pride, but they kept the Clippers honest and made them sweat. Willie Cauley-Stein had 19 points and 14 rebounds while Arron Afflalo added 18. Buddy Hield had 16, Ben McLemore 15 and Langston Galloway 14.

Galloway hit a 3-pointer with 8:22 remaining in the third to get Sacramento within 61-59. However, a 10-2 Los Angeles run, capped with a Reddick 3-pointer, gave the Clippers some space, and Sacramento never threatened again from there.

NOTES: The Clippers have a regular-season record of 273-137 over the past five regular seasons, and along with the Spurs are the only teams to win at least 50 games per season in that span. The Clippers, however, have not advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs during that time. ... G J.J. Redick's 3-point with 5:17 left in the third quarter was his 201st three of the season, setting a Clippers franchise record ... The Kings have missed the playoffs for 11 consecutive seasons, and Wednesday's loss ensured their seventh season with at least 50 losses out of the past nine. ... Wednesday marked the final regular-season game for F Paul Pierce, who entered the game to a thunderous ovation with 2:22 remaining in the fourth. He did not score.