DENVER — Last year at this time, Kawhi Leonard was hobbled. It was painful to watch him try to play through the inflammation in his right knee before the LA Clippers finally shut him down ahead of Game 4 of their first-round playoff loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
It took months for Leonard to recover from his injuries. So long that the Clippers had to move on and figure out how to play without him for the first part of this season and reporters basically stopped asking coach Tyronn Lue for updates.
But behind the scenes, Leonard was working to get back to a physical form so that he might have a night like he did Monday in the Clippers’ 105-102 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series at Ball Arena.
“I’m just happy that I’m able to move,” Leonard said after scoring 39 points on an efficient 15-for-19 from the field. “That’s what I’m taking pride in is just being healthy. I sat and watched these playoff games and series the past two years. So being able to be frontline out there, it just feels good for me no matter which way the game goes.”
Leonard sat out 23 days because of inflammation in his right knee trying to get himself ready for the playoffs last season, only to have the injury not respond well and finally be ruled out for the series. At the time, it felt like the closing of a championship window that had formed when he joined forces with Paul George in 2019 and then added James Harden in a trade on Oct. 31, 2023. George left as a free agent last summer. Leonard and Harden re-signed on team-friendly contracts.
Leonard was able to play in only 37 games this season, trying to get his knee in good enough shape to help the Clippers in the playoffs. So far, it’s responding.
“Tonight, s—, I don’t feel like he missed a shot,” Harden said of Leonard, who made his first six shots, missed a 3-pointer, then hit six more in a row and ended up scoring or assisting on 51 of the Clippers’ 105 points (49%).
“His shotmaking ability is elite,” Harden continued. “And that’s the aggressiveness that we need from him. Doesn’t matter what’s going on, or who’s guarding him, he just got to a spot and raised up. He’s a big-time player.”
Leonard was equally dominant on defense, holding the Nuggets to five points (2-of-12 field goals) when he was the primary defender. He also came up with a huge steal of a Nikola Jokic pass (his seventh turnover of the game) with 38 seconds left and the Clippers clinging to a three-point lead.
Leonard said that he tries to keep his focus on what’s in front of him, whether it be the next play or the next game. He doesn’t allow himself to think too far ahead or reflect too deeply on where he has been. But after Monday’s game — his finest playoff game since he led the Clippers to the Western Conference finals in 2021 — Leonard noted that he thanked several staffers for everything they’d done to help him through his injuries the past few years.
“Anybody in the business that’s playing and knows how hard it is to either to come back from injury or just even playing in the NBA, they understand what we all go through, what I go through,” Leonard said. “… I’m not going to play like I was before. I could be playing better. I can be playing worse. It doesn’t matter. I’m just focused on it now. It’s a different team in every situation and game, so I’m just taking what’s in front of me and playing hard and like I said, having fun and just living with the results.”
Harden has been with the Clippers for only two seasons but said he has come to appreciate all the work Leonard puts in behind the scenes just to get back to play.
“It’s every single day,” Harden said of Leonard. “It’s the preparation. It’s like the treatment, it’s strengthening, you know what I mean, of body, it’s correctives and then it’s going on court and putting it all together. Luck hasn’t been on his side or whatever case you might call it. But he loves to hoop. And as you see, when he’s on the court, he’s a killer. So I’m glad he’s in a good space right now.”
“I’m just happy that I’m able to move. That’s what I’m taking pride in is just being healthy. I sat and watched these playoff games and series the past two years. So being able to be frontline out there, it just feels good for me no matter which way the game goes.”
Kawhi Leonard
Harden also used the opportunity to defend Leonard from critics who talk about the perception that he and the Clippers have “load managed” his injuries over the years.
“It’s always negative. It’s always what he’s been through and what he’s not able to do just because of something that he can’t control,” Harden said. “But we don’t appreciate how great he is when he’s actually out there and putting on performances like this tonight. I feel like that about everybody that’s in the league that goes through something that is out of their hands where they can’t control. It’s like it’s always the negative — which is something that we got to live with, I guess, in the world. But as for me, being close to him every single day and seeing the work that he puts in, you appreciate him.”
Leonard had a stellar last month of the regular season, building to a night like Monday. But the Clippers needed every ounce of what he gave them to beat the Nuggets.
Jokic recorded another triple-double (26 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) but was clearly frustrated by the defensive coverages and physicality the Clippers threw at him. He finished with an uncharacteristic seven turnovers and even missed four free throws.
Jamal Murray added 23 points and Michael Porter Jr. had 15, but Denver had no answer for Leonard on Monday night and couldn’t recover from its 20 turnovers, which led to 21 Clippers points.
The teams will have two days off before resuming their series Thursday night in Los Angeles.