The Los Angeles Clippers are a different team with Kawhi Leonard on the court. Any team in the NBA would be.
We’re talking about a two-time NBA Finals MVP and one of the best two-way players in modern Association history.
We saw this play out first-hand as Los Angeles lost its final two games of the regular season to cede the No. 4 seed to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference.
Those two games represented the culmination of the Clippers having to play two weeks without Leonard in the mix due to a knee injury he suffered back on March 31 against the Charlotte Hornets. Los Angeles went 4-4 with the glue of its team sidelined.
With the Clippers set to take on Dallas in Big D on Sunday to open the NBA Playoffs, we have some good news on this front.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Leonard has ramped up his on-court process and plans on returning to action for Game 1.
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Kawhi Leonard changes entire dynamic for Los Angeles Clippers in NBA Playoffs
This comes with a caveat. As we saw with Joel Embiid and Trae Young during the NBA Play-In Tournament, a return to action doesn’t necessarily mean a player is 100% healthy. In the case of Young, his presence probably hurt them more than anything in Wednesday night’s season-ending loss to the Chicago Bulls.
We’ll have to see just how close Leonard is to 100% before making a final determination. What we do know is that an 80% Leonard is probably better than all but 30 fully-healthy players in the Association.
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The Clippers posted a 7-7 record in games Leonard was sidelined during the regular season. They were a robust 44-24 in games he suited up in. Dating back to the start of last season, Los Angeles is 17-25 when Leonard doesn’t play. It boasts a .639 winning percentage when he plays.
As for the Mavericks matchup in particular, Leonard’s presence on the defensive end of the court and ability to guard multiple positions is going to be huge.
Potential NBA MVP Luka Doncic is the biggest concern. Kawhi will be matched up on him throughout the series unless Los Angeles plans on masking his injury on that end of the court.
We’re talking about a seven-time All-NBA Defensive Team performer and one of the best players in this regard over the past two decades. Limiting Doncic would force Kyrie Irving and others to do their thing.
It complicates Dallas’ plans in that the team relies so much on Doncic in every aspect of the game on offense. Remember, he accounted for a league-best 33.9 points per game to go with 9.8 assists during the regular season. There is not another offense in the NBA that relies more on one player.
- Kawhi Leonard stats (2023-24): 23.7 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 3.6 APG
Of course, none of this takes into account Leonard’s prowess on offense. He shot 53% from the field and 42% from three-point distance during the regular season. His presence will force the likes of James Harden and Russell Westbrook into secondary roles — something that is needed at this point in their careers.