INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Close to grabbing a franchise record all for himself, Kawhi Leonard elected to take a pass in order to be fresh for another day.
Team-oriented to the core, Leonard was actually a bit selfish by request Sunday, scoring a career-high 55 points to lift the Los Angeles Clippers to a 112-99 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons.
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard controls the ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives the ball while under pressure from Detroit Pistons guard Ausar Thompson during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard dunks during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard controls the ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
The Clippers are now on a season-best four-game winning streak and a recent scoring burst from Leonard is the primary reason.
Leonard was told by head coach Tyronn Lue he was closing in on the franchise scoring record but decided to keep his fourth-quarter floor time to a modest six minutes and departed with just under a minute remaining.
He now shares the team mark for points in a game with teammate James Harden.
“Like I told (Lue), I would rather play another game than go out there and risk it,” Leonard said. “Hopefully we can get another win and be in the same situation. It is what it is.”
Harden teased Leonard afterward that it took him long enough to pull off a 50-point game, while also shouting “double nickels,” in the locker room afterward. Leonard is in his 14th season.
“It was a beautiful thing to see how efficient, how effortless it was,” Harden said. “It was just so smooth. He got to whatever spot he wanted to and once you get to that spot it’s not even about the defender. It’s about him making the shot.
“Overly happy for him because behind the scenes you watch somebody and how hard they work. ... For him, what he had to battle through just to go out there and be himself was a beautiful thing to see.”
Slowed by knee injuries in recent years, Leonard missed 10 games earlier this season with ankle and foot issues. He finally reached 40 minutes in a game during a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers last week that started the winning streak. He did it again in a victory Friday.
He went 17 of 26 from the floor against the Pistons and 16 of 17 from the free-throw line while playing 39 minutes.
“He’s finally getting healthy and finally being able to play enough minutes to be very effective,” Lue said. “When he’s healthy, he’s one of the top guys in the league. We’ve been able to see that of late.”
With a 41-point game Tuesday against the Houston Rockets, Leonard is the second player in franchise history to score at least 40 points in back-to-back home games along with Bob McAdoo.
Leonard scored 26 points in the third quarter alone Sunday, but he also missed his lone free throw of the night in the period. It not only was the point he needed to set the franchise scoring record, the miss ended his franchise-record run at 64 consecutive made free throws.
“I’ve never really kind of been in this situation,” said Leonard, who is averaging 39.0 points over the last four games. “I’m more trying to get guys the ball and sharing it more than what I have been doing. But the coaches need me to be aggressive the entire game.
“It’s just a different evolution of me trying to shoot more 3s and trying to evolve my game to today’s game.”
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard controls the ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives the ball while under pressure from Detroit Pistons guard Ausar Thompson during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard dunks during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard controls the ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Families of victims of the recent Sydney massacre that targeted a Jewish festival released an open letter on Monday calling for more federal action to investigate a rise in antisemitism and the security failures behind Australia's worst mass shooting in three decades.
Two gunmen are accused of shooting 15 people dead and wounding another 40 in an attack on a Hannukah festival on Bondi Beach on Dec. 14.
In an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, 17 families of the dead and wounded called for a federal inquiry known as a royal commission to investigate a rise in antisemitism in Australia since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023 and consequent security agency failures.
Royal commissions are the most powerful form of public investigation in Australia and witnesses can be jailed for deliberately withholding evidence.
“We need to know why clear warning signs were ignored, how antisemitic hatred and Islamic extremism were allowed to dangerously grow unchecked, and what changes must be made to protect all Australians going forward,” the letter said.
But Albanese continued to resist calls from the families, Jewish leaders and opposition lawmakers to establish such a royal commission, saying it would take years to provide answers.
Instead, he announced the terms of an inquiry by retired bureaucrat Dennis Richardson that would examine potential failings in procedures and laws that led to the shooting, which was allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group. That inquiry will report in April next year.
“My heart breaks for the families of the victims of the Bondi terrorist atrocity,” Albanese told reporters. “And my heart goes out to them at what is an incredibly traumatic time.”
“My job, as the Australian prime minister, is to act in the national interests. It is in the national interest for us to do the Richardson review on national security,” Albanese added.
Albanese said federal authorities would support a royal commission promised by the New South Wales state government, which is based in Sydney.
The families’ letter says a state inquiry is not enough.
“The rise of antisemitism in Australia goes far beyond one state jurisdiction. It is a national crisis that demands a powerful response,” the families said.
As the nation reels from its worst mass shooting since a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania state in 1996, the usual New Year’s Eve celebrations have been canceled at Bondi. Tickets sold to an annual music festival at Bondi will be refunded, organizers said.
Security will be tightened at Sydney’s main celebration with heavily armed police expected to be visible. More than 1 million revelers are expected to crowd the waterfront to see a fireworks display centered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said he was discussing with the federal government getting the army involved in bolstering security in Sydney.
The New South Wales Police Operation Shelter was established within weeks of the Hamas attack on Israel to reduce antisemitic and antisocial behavior and other hate crime activity in Sydney. The operation has been provided with additional resources following the Bondi attack.
“This is the worst terrorism event that’s affected our state and our country ever, and it requires a comprehensive response,” Minns told reporters.
One of the alleged shooters, Sajid Akram, 50, was killed by police at the scene. His 24-year-old son, Naveed Akram, was wounded and faces dozens of charges including 15 counts of murder.
Albanese has attempted to turn the public focus from the perpetrators to the heroes of the tragedy. Last week, he announced plans for a national bravery award to recognize civilians and first responders who confronted “the worst of evil” during the attack.
One of the most celebrated was bystander Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old Syrian-Australian shopkeeper who tackled and disarmed one of the attackers before being wounded by shotgun pellets.
More than 43,000 people around the world have donated more than 2.5 million Australian dollars ($1.7 million) to a fundraising campaign set up to thank him for his intervention.
Al Ahmed, who was released from a Sydney hospital last week after multiple surgeries, told U.S.-based CBS News his soul had asked him to save lives.
“I don’t want to see people killed in front of me, I don’t want to see blood, I don’t want to hear his gun, I don’t want to … see people screaming and begging, asking ”help, help;"’ and that’s my soul (that) asked me to do that," al Ahmed told the network.
“I know I saved lots of people’s lives: Innocent kids and women … and men, and I know I saved lots. But I feel sorry still for the lost,” he added.
Street artist Jarrod Grech last week created a likeness of al Ahmed in a Melbourne lane that has attracted media attention. Al Ahmed is depicted as a hospital patient over a banner that reads: “True Blue.”
The Australian colloquialism means “very genuine; very loyal; expressing Australian values,” according to the Australian National Dictionary Center.
“I like to paint significant moments, and that one was about the Australian spirit, so True Blue,” Grech told The Associated Press on Sunday.
“So it’s about the act that he did and I thought that was a True Blue thing,” Grech added.
Street artist Jarrod Grech poses for a photo next to his painting of Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old Syrian-Australian shopkeeper who disarmed one of the attackers of Sydney's Bondi Beach shooting, in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (Rod McGuirk/AP Photo)
