Saturday night marked another feat for Paul Pierce’s storied career, but it came in a defeat for the Los Angeles Clippers, who saw their winning streak snapped at 10 games by the Sacramento Kings.

The Truth became the 17th player in NBA history to reach 45,000 career minutes in the 110-103 loss. No. 34 struggled to find his shot, scoring seven points in 20 minutes, but he nearly completed the comeback in the fourth quarter.

Los Angeles Clippers v New Orleans Pelicans

About 30 seconds after entering the final frame for the first time, Paul recovered a nearly-stolen ball at halfcourt before heaving a long pass to J.J. Redick for a triple. That three-pointer pulled the Clippers to within five, 98-93, with under five to play.

Paul’s keen awareness continued, as he intercepted a pass from DeMarcus Cousins that was intended for Rudy Gay. On the other end, Cole Aldrich’s reverse layup cut the deficit to three, 102-99.

Then with 24.8 seconds remaining, Paul’s open look to tie to it from beyond the ark just missed its mark.

“I’d take (that shot) 10 out of 10 times,” said point guard Chris Paul, who had 15 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes after getting into early foul trouble.

Eleven seconds later, the Truth helped trim the margin to two when he caught the inbounds pass at the top of the key and found Aldrich cutting to the rim for a two-handed dunk.

But that is as close as the Clippers came, as the Kings secured their second straight win by scoring the final five points.

Los Angeles Clippers v San Antonio Spurs

Sacramento shot 47 percent from the floor and 52 percent from three (13-of-25), but the shots weren’t falling the same way for L.A. The Clips shot 40 percent from the floor and connected on just 13 of 39 treys.

With DeAndre Jordan sidelined for the second consecutive game with pneumonia and Blake Griffin still out with a partially torn left quadricep, the Clippers were forced to play small — hence the torrent of three-point attempts.

“Having Blake and DJ, we usually go inside more,” said Jamal Crawford, who totaled 20 points off the bench. “DJ with alley-oops and the rolls, and Blake in a variety of ways, posting, rolls, short jumpers, everything.”

Playing with a depleted lineup hadn’t prevented the Clippers from prevailing 104-90 against the Heat on Wednesday, but in the words of head coach Doc Rivers, things just didn’t go L.A.’s way.

“It was just one of those games,” Rivers said. “Things just didn’t go our way. But give them credit. They played hard.”

Sacramento Kings v Los Angeles Clippers

Just like Paul made some impact plays late in the game, he started off hot to give the Clippers a fighting chance.

Trailing 8-6 in the first quarter, The Truth tied the game with a spin-around jumper before igniting what a 9-0 run with an open triple from the wing.

The Clippers led 17-9 with 7:46 left in the first quarter, but the Kings called a timeout and came out strong, scoring the next six points. Sacramento kept rolling from there, mounting a 17-2 run to take its largest lead, a nine-point advantage, in the second stanza before Redick drained back-to-back triples to get back within three, 58-55.

LAC trailed 64-60 at the break, but Paul got the ball rolling to start the second half. Within the first minute, No. 34 pump-faked before swinging the ball back out to Redick for a contested triple at the buzzer.

The Clippers made it a one-possession game four more times in the third period and another three times in the fourth, but ultimately couldn’t get over the hump. Led by Cousins’ 19 points, six Kings scored in double-figures, including two reserves. Sacramento shared the wealth with 43 points coming off the bench.

NEXT UP

The competition doesn’t get much easier for the Clippers (26-14), as five of their next opponents are over .500.

The Clippers wrap up their five-game homestead when they welcome the Houston Rockets (22-20) to the Staples Center on Monday. The contest will be nationally televised on TNT with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. PT.

LAC is 0-2 this season versus Houston, most recently falling 107-97 on Dec. 19. The Rockets have won six of their past seven games behind James Harden’s offensive outbursts — the shooting guard, who just dropped 31 points on the Los Angeles Lakes on Sunday, is second in the league with 27.6 points per game, behind Golden State superstar Stephen Curry (29.9).

“They have shooters everywhere with (Corey) Brewer, with Harden, (Trevor) Ariza and (Patrick) Beverly shooting threes,” Jamal Crawford said when asked about the Rockets. “You don’t want to get too spread out.”