LOS ANGELES – For the first time in only two years, the Los Angeles Clippers have talked about Kawhi Leonard for reasons that have nothing to do with injuries. They have everything to do with his recent performances.
“He’s playing the best basketball that he ever played,” Clippers center Ivica Zubac said. “I’m really confident in this team when we got a guy like that on our side.”
The No. 5 Clippers (44-38) enter their first-round NBA playoff series against the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns (45-37) still with questions about their health. Although Clippers forward Paul George has completed shooting drills in two practices (Wednesday, Friday), the team has prepared to enter Game 1 without him (Sunday, 8:00 pm ET, TNT).
“We’re definitely not going to do anything to hurt PG, even if he does try to come back,” Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “If he’s not right, we’re not going to let him go.”
But for the first time in 10 months, the Clippers no longer have such restrictions on Leonard. After injuring his right knee in Game 4 of the Clippers’ second-round series against the Utah Jazz, Leonard missed the rest of the 2021 NBA playoffs that included the franchise’s first trip to the Western Conference Finals.
Following off-season surgery, Leonard then stayed sidelined for the entire 2021-22 campaign. That ended with the Clippers missing the NBA playoffs after losing two play-in tournament games.
This season, Leonard still missed games to manage his right knee (22) and treat a sprained right ankle (six). But Leonard has averaged 29.3 points on a 50.6% clip along with 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 37.3 minutes in the past four games, a stark increase to what he averaged this season in points (23.8), rebounds (6.5), assists (3.9) and minutes played (33.6).
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“It’s just knowing that it’s going to be a long season, and just staying focused and just getting stronger throughout the year,” Leonard said. “That was my main focus this year: just trying to get through the season healthy. I’ll see where my game play goes after that.”
Where will Leonard’s game play go after that? The Clippers stoic star insisted that he’s “just trying to win a basketball game” and that “people start to pay more attention to what’s really going on” during the playoffs.” But the Clippers view Leonard’s importance differently.
“I’ve had the luxury to see the difference about his pace and how hard he goes every single night,” Lue said. “That’s to be expected when you get to the playoffs. In the playoffs, the energy and everything raises two or three levels.”
Consider how differently Leonard has produced between the regular season and postseason once he became the team’s focal point.
He spent his first and lone season with the Toronto Raptors (2018-19) averaging 26.6 points on 49.6% shooting, 7.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 34 minutes per night in between missing a combined 20 games.
During the playoffs, Kawhi Leonard averaged 30.5 points on 49% shooting, 9.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 39.1 minutes per contest. During his second season with the Clippers (2020-21), Leonard averaged 24.8 points on 51.2% shooting, 6.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 34.1 minutes in between sitting a combined 20 games. Before his season-ending injury during the 2021 NBA playoffs, Leonard averaged 30.4 points while shooting 57.3% along with 7.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 39.3 minutes per contest.
“It’s just his overall mentality and his approach,” said Los Angeles Clippers forward Norman Powell, who played with Leonard in Toronto. “He’s just being locked in start to finish. The aggressiveness, the
calmness and just the pace before the game, I feel like he has all of that clicking in the playoffs. I’m excited to see it again up close and in person.”
What will that look like this time around?
Not much, other than the Clippers expecting Leonard to assume the team’s scoring load, draw the primary defensive assignment on Suns forward Kevin Durant and lead the team during George’s absence.
“We need him to set the tone every night on both sides of the basketball,” Lue said. “When you’re a great player, that’s what is expected. He has the ability to do it on the defensive end as well as the offensive end.”
Leonard downplayed the increased importance of his role, saying “everybody is going to have to take the challenge, not just me.” Leonard added that “it is a team sport.”
After all, the Clippers plan to lean on Russell Westbrook for additional scoring and playmaking responsibilities while George stays sidelined. Lue plans to throw other wing defenders at Durant, including Powell, Nicolas Batum and Terance Mann. And the Clippers plan to play centers Ivica Zubac and Mason Plumlee significant minutes to neutralize Suns center Deandre Ayton.
“It’s just making sure that we’re bought in and there’s attention to detail,” Leonard said. “Just making sure everybody knows what we’re doing, even the guys that’s on the bench, so they can help us when game time comes. We need everybody’s mind in the game and everybody seeing what’s going on.”
The Clippers predicted, though, they will mostly see Leonard raise his game to another level. If they have any chance to upset the Suns, they hope they can use their depth to wear out Durant, Ayton, Devin Booker and Chris Paul. But they also sense that Leonard will have to play like a superstar both to match the Suns’ star-studded lineup and to compensate for Paul’s absence.
“There is going to be lot expected from Kawhi,” Lue said. “I know he’s ready to give it.”