INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Desmond Bane scored 36 points and Paolo Banchero added 16 points and eight assists as the Orlando Magic held on for a 111-109 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night.
Wendell Carter Jr. had 15 points and 14 rebounds and Tristan da Silva scored 13 for the Magic, who improved to 5-2 since Feb. 5.
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, right, dribbles past Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black during the second half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac, left, and Los Angeles Clippers center Yanic Konan Niederhauser fight for a rebound during the second half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane scores during the first half of a NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, right, dribbles past Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black during the second half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane scores during the first half of a NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
Kawhi Leonard shrugged off an ankle injury to score 37 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 21 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Clippers, who are 4-5 since Feb. 2. Mathurin missed a 3-point attempt to win the game at the buzzer.
Jordan Miller had 14 points for the Clippers.
Leonard exited Friday’s loss against the Los Angeles Lakers with an ankle sprain. Mathurin was playing in his fifth game for the Clippers after he was acquired at the trade deadline from the Indiana Pacers.
Orlando won despite going 8 of 23 from 3-point range, two games after setting a franchise record with 27 3-pointers in a victory at Sacramento. Jalen Suggs missed his second consecutive game for the Magic with back spasms.
In a tight game throughout, Leonard gave the Clippers a 107-105 lead with 3:03 remaining on a jumper from the top of the key. The Magic took charge from there as Bane hit a jumper to tie the score and then made a layup with 1:28 left for a 109-107 advantage.
As the Clippers missed four consecutive shots, Orlando went up 111-107 on a fast-break dunk from Banchero with 40 seconds left.
Bane tried to pad the Magic’s lead with eight seconds remaining but had his shot blocked inside by rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser. Mathurin then raced down the floor only to miss a 25-footer as time expired.
Magic: At the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
Clippers: Host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, right, dribbles past Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black during the second half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac, left, and Los Angeles Clippers center Yanic Konan Niederhauser fight for a rebound during the second half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane scores during the first half of a NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, right, dribbles past Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black during the second half of a NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane scores during the first half of a NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was reelected to the top post of the ruling Workers’ Party, with delegates crediting him for bolstering the country’s nuclear arsenal and strengthening its regional standing, state media reported Monday.
The report from the party congress, a major propaganda spectacle where Kim is expected to outline his political and military goals for the next five years, suggests he will double down on accelerating a nuclear arsenal already equipped with missiles capable of threatening Asian U.S. allies and the American mainland.
The party also released a new roster for its powerful Central Committee that confirmed a generational shift in Kim’s leadership circle, with aging military chiefs and the 76-year-old head of Pyongyang’s rubber-stamp parliament among dozens replaced in the 138-member body.
The congress, which began last Thursday, comes as Kim grows increasingly assertive in regional politics, following an aggressive expansion of his nuclear arsenal and closer ties with Russia forged through joint war efforts in Ukraine, which have deepened his standoffs with Washington and Seoul. Kim has also pursued stronger ties with China, traveling to Beijing last September and having his first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in six years.
Analysts say Kim will likely use the meeting to unveil new military goals, including strengthening conventional forces and integrating them with nuclear capabilities, while reemphasizing a campaign for economic “self-reliance” through mass mobilization, following gradual post-pandemic gains fueled by rebounding trade with China and arms exports to Russia.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim was reelected as the party’s general secretary with the “unshakable will and unanimous desire” of thousands of delegates on the fourth day of meetings Sunday.
Under party rules, the congress, which Kim has held every five years since 2016, elects the general secretary to serve as the party’s top representative and leader. Kim, 42, has held the party’s top post throughout his rule, though the title changed from first secretary to chairman at the congress in 2016 and then to general secretary at the congress in 2021.
The party said in a statement that by building up nuclear forces, Kim has created a military capable of handling “any threat of aggression” and “any form of war,” and credited his leadership with “reliably guaranteeing” the country’s future and “boosting the pride and self-esteem” of North Koreans.
It also praised Kim’s recent foreign policy, which it said raised national prestige.
KCNA said the congress adopted revisions to party rules during Sunday’s meeting but did not immediately provide details. Experts had anticipated that Kim would use the congress to entrench his hard-line stance toward South Korea and possibly rewrite party rules to codify his characterization of inter-Korean relations as between two “hostile” states.
State media so far haven’t mentioned any comments by Kim or other senior leaders at the congress directly addressing relations with Washington and Seoul.
Yoon Min Ho, a spokesperson at South Korea’s Unification Ministry, described Kim’s reelection as a predictable move to further burnish his leadership and that Seoul will closely watch further messages from the congress.
The most notable change to the new Central Committee list was the exclusion of Choe Ryong Hae, chairman of the standing committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, who earlier part ofin Kim’s rule was seen as the second most powerful individual in Pyongyang. Also left out were military marshals Pak Jong Chon and Ri Pyong Chol, who had rose in the leadership ranks while Kim sped up his nuclear development over the past decade.
Yoon also noted the removal of key officials who handled inter-Korean affairs, including Kim Yong Chol and Ri Son Gwon, who served key roles in carrying out Kim Jong Un’s diplomacy with then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in and President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019.
North Korea has suspended all meaningful diplomacy with the United States and South Korea since the collapse of a 2019 summit between Kim Jong Un and Trump over disagreements about exchange sanctions relief for steps to wind down Kim’s nuclear and missile program.
Kim’s government has rejected dialogue offers from Trump since the American president began his second term, urging Washington to drop its demand for North Korea’s denuclearization as a precondition for talks. Inter-Korean relations further deteriorated in 2024 when Kim abandoned the North’s long-standing goal of peaceful reunification and declared the war-divided South a permanent enemy.
This photo provided Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center, attends the ruling Workers’ Party Congress in Pyongyang, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
This photo provided Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un attends the ruling Workers’ Party Congress in Pyongyang, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
This photo provided Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center, claps hands as he was re-elected to the top post of the ruling Workers’ Party, during the party's Congress in Pyongyang, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
This photo provided Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center, claps hands as he was re-elected to the top post of the ruling Workers’ Party, during the party's Congress in Pyongyang, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
