INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The hottest team in the NBA looked every bit the part Sunday night at Intuit Dome.

From the opening tip, the Clippers didn’t just beat the Brooklyn Nets — they erased them. The 126–89 final score somehow undersells how dominant this was, a wire-to-wire demolition that felt over almost as soon as it began.

This Clippers team, winners of 15 of its last 18 and nine of its last 11, continues to build momentum at a critical point in the season. At 21–24 and sitting 10th in the Western Conference, the math still isn’t pretty — six games back of the sixth seed — but performances like this make the climb feel possible. With Portland, Golden State, and Minnesota ahead of them, the window to make up ground before the All-Star break and trade deadline is very real.

And on nights like this, it’s easy to see why belief inside the locker room is growing.

This one was over midway through the second quarter.

The Clippers ripped off a jaw-dropping 35–4 run, opening a 47–14 lead just two minutes into the second period. Kawhi Leonard had 15 points by then. James Harden had 14. Brooklyn looked shell-shocked.

Leonard led the way with a vintage performance: 28 points, five rebounds, and two assists in just 25 minutes, shooting 9-of-17 from the field. Calm, efficient, and surgical, he never looked rushed — or needed for long.

The Clippers briefly eased off the gas late in the first half, allowing the Nets to close on an 11–2 run. But Kobe Sanders buried a buzzer-beater to restore order and send the Clippers into halftime up 68–37, a fitting exclamation point on a lopsided opening act.

What made the beatdown even more striking: this wasn’t a three-point barrage. Both teams made five triples in the first half, but the Clippers dominated everywhere else. They outscored Brooklyn 32–14 in the paint, winning with strength, movement, and physicality rather than hot shooting.

The Clippers’ lead ballooned to as many as 40 points in the second half, allowing Ty Lue to spread the minutes and still never lose control of the game. Every player on the active roster played a minimum of seven minutes.

Harden finished with 19 points, six rebounds, and eight assists, repeatedly punishing mismatches and living at the free-throw line, where he went a perfect 10-for-10. Ivica Zubac added a quiet but effective double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds in 23 minutes), while John Collins chipped in 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

Jordan Miller provided a major spark off the bench, scoring 16 points and grabbing seven rebounds while shooting 7-of-10 from the field — the kind of depth contribution that turns good teams into dangerous ones.

Defensively, the Clippers were relentless. Brooklyn shot just 29-of-85 from the field and an ice-cold 9-of-43 (20.9%) from three. Perimeter pressure, rim protection, and consistent effort left the Nets searching for answers all night.

For Brooklyn, there weren’t many bright spots. Rookie Egor Demin was the lone starter to reach double figures. Michael Porter Jr. struggled through a 3-of-11 shooting night, including 0-for-4 from deep. Former Clipper Terrence Mann returned to Intuit Dome and managed eight points in 20 minutes — symbolic of a night that never tilted Brooklyn’s way.

Considering how ugly the start of the season was, this current stretch feels almost surreal. The Clippers didn’t just claw their way back into the play-in conversation — they’ve done it with confidence, chemistry, and increasingly dominant performances.

Sunday night wasn’t pretty basketball unless you’re a Clippers fan. For everyone else, it was uncomfortable viewing. For this team, it was a statement.

The Clippers now hit the road for a three-game trip — at Utah on Tuesday, at Denver on Friday, and at Phoenix on Sunday — before returning home to host the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday, February 2.

If they keep playing like this, that six-game gap in the standings might not feel so intimidating for much longer.