3 major reinforcements are amazing! The Clippers won by 18 points, Harden made 4 of 10, Kawhi scored 15+2, and Collins set a record

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On October 16, the NBA 2025-26 preseason ushered in the focus of the Western Conference. The Sacramento Kings sat at home and faced the Los Angeles Clippers. What makes people sigh is that after more than four months of "unemployment", Westbrook finally found a new club and signed with the Kings with a one-year basic salary contract of US$3.6 million. He teamed up with LaVine, DeRozan, and Sabonis to once again compete for the championship. Subsequently, the Kings locked in future core Keegan Murray with a huge contract of 140 million. It is obvious that the ambitions of the Kings management are hidden behind the continuous big moves. They still want to rush to the championship rather than choose to rebuild.

In terms of the starting lineup for today's game, for the Clippers, Tyronn Lue's starting five is: James Harden, Derrick Jones Jr., Kawhi Leonard, Jordan Miller, and Ivica Zubac; for the Kings, the starting lineup is: Schroeder, LaVine, DeRozan, Saric, and Sabonis Jr.

At the beginning of the first quarter, Zubac made a misplaced back-up to attract double-teams and then sent a wonderful pass. Jones Jr. made an air cut to catch the ball and dunked with both hands. The Clippers led the Kings 4-2 at the beginning. Harden and Leonard shot consecutively in an attempt to strike. Sabonis completed a steal with one against two, and counterattacked with a dunk to stop the Clippers. The Clippers are currently 1-for-8 (0-for-5 from three-point range) and already trail the Kings by 8 points. Leonard used Zubac's pick-and-roll to make an iconic mid-range shot, stopping the bleeding in time. Daluo and Batum hit three three-pointers in succession, and the Clippers responded with an 11-0 lead. Paul played with the opposing center and hit a three-pointer at the buzzer. At the end of the first quarter, the Clippers led the Kings by 8 points, 26-18.

Returning in the second quarter, Paul continuously counterattacked and provided assists. The Clippers started with another 6-0, extending the lead to 14 points, and stopped the Kings again. After the timeout, the Kings offense still has not improved, and the defense is also beaten by thousands of people. Lopez can also hit the long three-pointer. Currently, he has scored 12 points on 4 of 5 three-pointers. Paul throws high from outside the three-point line, helping Collins take off and complete the alley-oop dunk. He has sent 9 assists, and the Clippers lead to 25 points. After Harden came on the court again, he was in poor condition, and his outside passes were interrupted continuously. Currently, he is 0-for-3 without scoring and has made 3 turnovers. Then he broke through and scored a throw-in and scored an extra penalty, scoring the first point of the game, but unfortunately he missed the extra penalty. After halftime, the Clippers led the Kings by 20 points 60-40.

What’s interesting is that Leonard and Collins scored 23 points in the quarter, while the entire Kings team only scored 22 points combined.

Halftime data, for the Clippers, Harden played 14 minutes, made 1 of 5 shots, 0 of 4 three-pointers, scored 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 turnovers; Leonard played 19 minutes, made 5 of 11 and scored 15 points 2 rebounds and 2 assists; Paul played 9 minutes, scored 3 points, 1 rebound, 9 assists and 1 steal on 1 of 3 three-pointers; Lopez played 9 minutes, scored 12 points, 2 rebounds and 1 block on 4 of 5 three-pointers; Collins played 9 minutes, scored 11 points and 5 rebounds on 4 of 5.

For the Kings, LaVine had 9 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, Sabonis had 7 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists, and DeRozan had 6 points and 2 rebounds.

It is worth mentioning that Clippers reporter Justin Russo posted: "Paul scored 3 points and 9 assists in just 9 minutes, without a single mistake, and the plus-minus value was as high as +25!"

After changing sides, LaVine and Sabonis assisted each other. The two scored 8 points in a row, leading the team to narrow the point difference to 17 points. Harden used the pick-and-roll to make an emergency stop in the mid-range and succeeded, then continuously dribbled the ball under his hips to accelerate the breakthrough. He made a throw and caused a foul. There was still no extra penalty. He really didn't feel good today. He currently scored 8 points. Leonard continuously changed directions and missed the mid-range shot. Miller used his hands to complete the cover-up dunk, locking the top ten goals of the day. Collins turned under the basket and scored a hook to cause a foul. Then Paul patted his head to encourage, and the Clippers once again led to 27 points. Isaac Jones made a pass error, and Collins hit a three-pointer. After three quarters, the Clippers led the Kings by 29 points, 90-61.

In the decisive battle in the fourth quarter, Lopez hit a mid-range shot and scored 16 points. Paul caught the ball in the corner and hit a three-pointer. The point difference remained at around 30+. In the end, the Clippers beat the Kings by 18 points 109-91.

In terms of statistics, for the Clippers, Harden made 4 of 10 shots, 0 of 6 three-pointers and scored 8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal; Leonard made 5 of 13 shots and scored 15 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block; the three major reinforcements performed amazingly: Collins played 18 minutes, 7 of 8, and 2 three-pointers. 2 scored 24 points and 6 rebounds, setting a career preseason single-game scoring record; Lopez played 17 minutes, 6 of 8, 4 of 5 three-pointers, 16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block; Paul played 18 minutes, 3 of 6, 8 points, 1 rebound, 10 assists and 1 steal.

For the Kings, Sabonis scored 15 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 turnovers on 7-of-14 shooting; LaVine contributed 13 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists; DeRozan only scored 4 points on 2-of-9 shooting.