by Jessica Kwong

photo credit: LA Times–Sac Kings Rajon Rondo feeds pass while being defended by the LA Clips Chris Paul on Saturday at Staples Center

LOS ANGELES — The Sacramento Kings snapped the Los Angeles Clippers’ 10-game winning streak – the longest active in the NBA tied with the San Antonio Spurs – with a 110-103 victory Saturday night at Staples Center that they made look pretty easy.

“It’s a big win for us – they’ve been on a winning streak and are probably one of the top teams in the league right now. To come into their house and get a win like this is good for us,” said DeMarcus Cousins, who lead Sacramento in scoring with 19 points.

Kings coach George Karl noted that the Clippers were without their star forward Blake Griffin, out with a partially torn tendon in his left quadriceps, but still called his team’s win “one of the more satisfying” ones of the season.

The Clippers, who were also without DeAndre Jordan recovering from pneumonia, took an early lead, but the Kings overtook them and closed the half 64-60. Sacramento maintained a steady lead over Los Angeles and finished the third quarter up 82-79.

“We felt that we had the advantage going into the game, especially with their big men (Griffin and Jordan) out,” Kings guard Rajon Rondo said. “We wanted to take advantage of that and get the ball into the paint.”

The Kings led the Clippers by as many as 9 points in the fourth quarter, but Los Angeles rallied at the end of the fourth quarter, coming within 2 points when Cole Aldrich made a layup with 13.1 seconds remaining.

Darren Collison, fouled by J.J. Redick, made both at the free throw line to bump the Kings’ lead to 107-103. Rondo, fouled by Chris Paul who picked up his fifth personal, also made both.

“We knew J.J. and Chris Paul were their go-to guys and we let J.J. get loose, but I thought we did a pretty good job on Chris by getting him into foul trouble,” Rondo said.

Willie Cauley-Stein, fouled by Jamal Crawford, went one-for-two from the line to give Sacramento the 110-103 win.

Karl said his team “got big contributions in a balanced way” with six players in the double figures. Cousins passed the ball well and Ben McLemore had his moments offensively and defensively, the coach said.

“I thought we competed very physically and I just think it’s one of our better team wins and one of our better defensive wins of the year,” Karl said.

Nine victories of the Clippers’ 10-game winning streak came without Griffin, but nine of the games were also against teams below .500.

The Kings, who improved to 17-23, play their next game on Wednesday at Staples Center against the Los Angeles Lakers, who are 9-33 after Saturday night’s loss to the Utah Jazz.