Clippers Victory Over Mavericks Shows LA’s Path Still Runs Through Kawhi Leonard

It turns out the Clippers have some heart after all.

While the team has gone through many downturns throughout the season and currently find themselves sitting in the seventh seed, they are on a tear and could easily get into the postseason above the play-in game.

There are several reasons for that. The team is clicking at all levels, playing hard basketball, isn’t afraid to lean on their defense, and has largely united behind their top-end talent.

More importantly, they also have Kawhi Leonard

The future hall of famer has truly ascended to the next level. He’s playing hard defense, propping up his fellow players, and scoring in droves. He’s completely taken over as team leader, which is a formula that works for everyone.

Bringing Everything to the Table

Even early in the season fans and players alike knew the Clippers weren’t playing at their full potential. Norman Powell has had a great season. James Harden also continues to defy father time. Even so, there’s no true substitute for what Leonard brings to the team.

The combo guard is one of the best two way players in the league.

He can score in a myriad of ways, knows how to play lockdown defense, and is a great player to lean on when things aren’t going well.

He, like many superstars, also helps his teammates thrive

Los Angeles is simply a better team with him on the court. He has many intangibles that even other great players lack.

His presence puts a lot of teams on their back foot, and he does a lot of things that don’t necessarily show up on a stat sheet. He puts up a lot of stats too.

During the recent winning streak, Leonard has been on fire.

He’s put up more than twenty points in his last thirteen starts. That’s an incredible mark that shows he’s heating up at just the right time.

The Clippers’ chances of making a playoff push depend on Leonard

While he needs to stay healthy, which is something the front office is justifiably concerned about, if he’s on the court they always have a chance to win.

Their recent game against Dallas was yet another example of that.

Getting an Easy One

The Clippers took on Dallas in a key game with high playoff implications on Friday night. While Los Angeles came in heavily favored against a beat-up Mavericks squad, nothing is set in stone.

Luckily for Los Angeles, they took care of business.

The team moved the ball around and got everyone involved. Leonard led the way with 20 points, but five other players (including both Powell and Harden) ended up in double digits.

The team played hard, and kept pace in the battle for the sixth seed

The Clippers came out swinging. They got to a lead in the first quarter, extended it in the second, and then cruised in the last two.

Leonard didn’t even play for the last ten minutes, nor did he need to. The game was well out of reach by then.

It was another great performance from Leonard, and another showing of how he’s become the heartbeat of the team.

Good players can succeed early on in the season, but truly great ones step up when the stakes get high.

“I thought last year he was great too,” said Clippers coach Tyronn Lue

“I don’t know how many games he played last year, but I thought there was a stretch where we were, like, 29-5 or whatever and he was playing some of the best basketball I’ve seen him play…Getting back to that point again this late in the season is really good for us.”

Resting Up

The victory ties Los Angeles with the Timberwolves in the standings, and also shows that the team is a completely different beast with a healthy Leonard.

The guard is doing everything he can every night, but the Clippers need to make sure he’s rested as well.

Leonard has a long injury history. He doesn’t play back-to-backs and routinely skips games for load management.

That has been the Clippers plan throughout the year in order to ensure he’s in tip-top shape for the playoffs

There is some concern about his workload entering the postseason. The last time Leonard played in the playoffs he went down with an injury. His body isn’t exactly built to push night after night after night.

Unfortunately, if the Clippers want to be taken seriously, he’ll have to.

Los Angeles is playing some of the best basketball in the NBA, and besides their last game against the Warriors, their remaining schedule isn’t too tough.

There’s no reason to think they can’t win some without Leonard. Even falling to the play-in game is better than pushing him too much and risking an injury.