Clippers escape Sacramento with narrow win against Kings

SACRAMENTO -- Everyone take a deep breath and try to enjoy this one. What an insane rollercoaster of a game the Clippers and Kings played on Friday night. 

The Clippers escaped with a 101-100 win after a back and forth grind between both teams an insane ending. 

It seems like every single matchup between these two teams results in a close game or thrilling finish and Friday night at Golden One Center was no exception. 

After the Clippers held a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter, the Kings led by Zach Lavine and Demar Derozan started a run to cut the lead to two late. 

Lavine was fantastic all night with 26 points but had a hot stretch in the 4th quarter where it felt like he couldn't miss. 

The Clippers on the other hand, leaned on their defense to get turnovers and create easy opportunities after their offense sputtered at times. 

With all of that being said, they only turned the ball over 12 times and were out-rebounded, out-assisted, and lost the second chance points battle. 

But, when Kawhi Leonard is playing at the level he has been, and there are multiple options to find scoring output from, it doesn't matter how bad the team is shooting. 

Leonard had 28 points on 10-for-21 shooting and was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc to keep the Clippers afloat and ahead throughout. 

James Harden racked up another triple double to add to his career ledger with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, but some late miscues almost cost the Clippers the game.

Harden missed two free throws on separate possessions late and turned the ball over with less than 30 seconds left to give the Kings an opportunity to win the game on the last shot. 

Fortunately for the Clippers, Derozan missed the shot amongst good defense from Kris Dunn and Ivica Zubac, but it was as close as it gets in the final seconds. 

Zubac had another double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Norman Powell poured in 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting after missing the last game with a right shoulder issue. 

But all of this doesn't matter more than what the result was: a win. With this win, the Clippers have now put themselves in a spot where if they beat the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, they are the 5th seed. 

If they lose, they could fall back to the Play-In Tournament as the 7th seed

Of course, there are multiple scenarios that could happen, but it is imperative that the Clippers play their best basketball on Sunday in front of a national audience. 

Tipoff in San Francisco is set for 12:30 PM PST on Sunday afternoon.