With the 2023 NBA playoffs fast approaching, Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers are hopeful of finding two things. First of all, the Clippers desperately need to find a rhythm now that they are close to being healthy. Second, the Clippers need to finish in the top six to avoid the play-in tournament.
Another step in a positive direction was taken on Wednesday night as the Clippers beat the Toronto Raptors 108-100. Kawhi Leonard finished with 24 points and a season-high 12 rebounds, while Paul George added 23 points and four assists.
The Clippers have been a very difficult team to assess throughout the season. A five-game losing streak by the All-Star break was rough, dropping them from fourth to eighth place in the West. Wednesday’s win improved their record to 35–33, moving them into a tie with the Golden State Warriors for the fifth seed from eighth.
“Even when we lost those games, we still have our heads high,” Kawhi Leonard said after his second win in a row. “We’re still confident in ourselves. And then I’m on the floor and every time I play, I feel like we can win a basketball game. And I think everybody feels the same way. Those games Got to stretches where we beat ourselves up and tonight we were able to execute it, 10 or whatever, with two or three minutes left, not really turn the ball over, shots up. Gives us the confidence to take it into the next game.
The Clippers are 102-47 all-time when Kawhi Leonard plays, including a 25-15 record this season. At 35-33, the team has only 14 games left to find out as much as they can. For Kawhi Leonard, what the Clippers have to do is very simple.
“Just playing consistently,” Leonard said. “The things we do about winning basketball games is coming out with a defensive mindset. Talking, communicating, making sure we know their sets, and limiting our turnovers and execution on the offensive end. And, if we can play hard for the full 48 minutes and have a good defensive game, that would be great. If we can do that, if we’re missing shots on the offensive end, we can live with the loss But the defense is what needs to keep moving forward.”
Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers are in the middle of a 10-game stretch where they will play nine home games. The Clippers will spend 24 days at home, 23 at home, and the lone day will be against the Trail Blazers a few hundred miles north in Portland. On top of that, the Clippers’ remaining strength of schedule ranks 16th in the NBA after being ranked in the top three in the past weeks.
The New York Knicks are ahead of the Clippers in the schedule after their nine-game winning streak was snapped at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets.