Bogdanovic earning "trust" of Leonard, Harden as Clippers topple Knicks

That's two straight LAC wins to move to 34-29.

(Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- It’s difficult to earn the trust of strangers.

However, for the LA Clippers’ Bogdan Bogdanovic, that relationship has come over the last couple of weeks following his mid-season trade and was accentuated on Friday night as the guard helped the Clippers to a 105-95 victory over the New York Knicks.

Bogdanovic, coming off the bench after starting the previous two games, registered a career-high 12 rebounds, ending the evening with eight points and three assists to go along with them.

All eight of Bogdanovic’s points came in a fourth quarter that saw the 32-year-old Serbian account for 13 of the team’s 26 points in the frame when factoring in his assists.

“I think James [Harden] and Kawhi [Leonard] trust Bogi down the stretch to handle the basketball and make plays out of the pick-and-roll, which he did for us tonight,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said after the team’s second consecutive win as L.A. moved to 34-29 on the season.

The ability that Bogdanovic possesses in his 6-foot-5 frame allows Lue’s offense to mitigate some of the stalling nature that they’ve shown in recent weeks as the workload on Harden piles up and the integration of Leonard continues to rise.

“I’m just looking where is the space to attack, and having them on the floor makes the job easier,” Bogdanovic said of playing alongside Harden and Leonard. “You just look around and see where to attack, where is our advantage. It’s everywhere. But where’s our biggest advantage?”