Clippers close regular season with win over Warriors

INGLEWOOD — Coach Tyronn Lue said the Clippers want to win every time they step on the court, but not at the risk of Kawhi Leonard’s health and not with the postseason looming.

So, the seven-time All-Star, who had played 65 games, sat in gray sweats while the rest of the Clippers closed out the regular season with a 115-110 victory against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday at Intuit Dome.

Lue said Leonard has been dealing with nagging wrist and ankle injuries and decided to give him a night off heading into the Play-In tournament.

“We thought it would be smart tonight just to try to get him as close to 100% as we can get him before we play on Wednesday, or it could be Tuesday as well, just give him that extra day.

While the victory gave the Clippers (42-40) a winning record for the 15th consecutive season – the longest active streak in the NBA – it didn’t change their postseason standing.

The loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday all but handcuffed the Clippers to the No. 9 seed in the Play-In Tournament. Only an unlikely loss by the Trail Blazers to the 59-loss Sacramento Kings on Sunday would have given the Clippers a chance at a higher spot.

Portland didn’t lose, and the Clippers ended the regular season as the No. 9 seed and will face the No. 10 Warriors in a rematch on Wednesday.

The Warriors, who have endured a rough, injury-plagued season, have known their fate for more than a week and looked forward to putting the regular season behind them.

“It’s hard to (get excited about) when there’s not much on the line. I think we’ve had spurts of good basketball, but we know we’re going to have to put together a good four quarters on Wednesday,” Coach Steve Kerr said, looking ahead to this week’s Play-In tournament.

“Tonight’s another chance to make a step in that direction, but again it’s a different feeling when the game or the result doesn’t matter.”

The Warriors held out Draymond Green for similar reasons, although officially, it was because of a sore neck. And without their key starters, both teams struggled to score in the first half.

The Clippers, though, finally found their touch from beyond the 3-point line, shooting 35.9% (14 of 39) led by reserve guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Bogdanovic has seen limited minutes this season, but with Leonard on the bench, he scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range in 21 minutes. His consecutive 3’s late in the game gave the Clippers a 99-87 lead in the fourth.

Bennedict Mathurin shook off his recent slump to score a team-high 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

John Collins finished with 18 points despite foul trouble, and Daris Garland had 15 points and six assists.

Stephen Curry, who missed 27 games because of a knee injury, scored a team-high 24 points and had six rebounds and three assists in his third game back.