The duel began from deep, as was appropriate.
Kawhi Leonard rose up, 27 feet from the basket inside Staples Center two minutes into the third quarter Sunday and trimmed a seven-point Chicago lead to four. Fourteen seconds later, Bulls guard Zach LaVine answered with his own, from 28 feet.
The sequence set off a quarter that turned a sleepy early-afternoon tipoff into a shootout between the stars that continued into the final seconds of a 130-127 Clippers victory that improved their record to 7-4.
After scoring 21 points in the third quarter, his career high for any quarter, Leonard tied his career-high with seven three-pointers en route to 35 points.