DENVER — The ball was in Kawhi Leonard’s hands with a minute to play Monday night at Ball Arena, with the visiting LA Clippers leading the Denver Nuggets by one point in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series. This was a similar situation to Saturday’s Game 1, when Leonard lost the ball in front of the Clippers’ bench and cost his team a timeout, a challenge and, ultimately, the lead in an overtime loss. It was one of seven Leonard turnovers in Game 1, and one of 20 Clippers giveaways.
On Monday, Leonard capped a spectacular performance by driving away from a potential double team from Russell Westbrook, slamming on the brakes while in isolation against Aaron Gordon, and sticking a pull-up midrange jumper.
That bucket was the last of Leonard’s 39 points, which he reached by making 15 of his 19 shots. But he had to make one more winning play.
Denver still had a chance to get two possessions for Nikola Jokić. On the first one, Leonard defended Westbrook on the weak side, while Jokić drove into the paint against Clippers center Ivica Zubac. But Denver’s poor spacing allowed Leonard to cover both Westbrook and Christian Braun, and Leonard easily intercepted Jokić’s pass for a steal. It was Denver’s turn to have 20 turnovers, and Jokić’s turn to have seven giveaways.
After missed 3s by Braun and Jokić in the waning seconds, the Clippers completed the theft of home-court advantage with a 105-102 win, tying the series at 1-1. Leonard, who committed just one turnover in 39 minutes, could finally rest. Only four players have ever scored more points in a playoff game while taking fewer than 20 shots and not having more than one turnover.
“I made shots tonight, shot a little bit more than I did last game,” said Leonard, who has now scored at least 30 points in 36 of his last 81 playoff games, dating to the 2015 postseason. “But it wasn’t about that, you know what I mean? Some of my turnovers last game were just being aggressive and trying to save the ball or getting rebounds and getting pushed out of bounds. The one that stuck out to me is obviously that one getting tipped off of my hip. Just great defense by them. So, just wanted to come out and get a win.”
This was an all-time response game from Leonard, a player all too familiar with coming back at the time of year when it matters most.
Clippers reserve guard Patty Mills and Leonard were teammates with the 2011-2012 San Antonio Spurs, when Leonard was a rookie out of San Diego State. Mills played with Leonard for all seven of Leonard’s seasons in San Antonio, so he knows what Leonard is capable of in the playoffs.
“I’ve seen it before, and this is another level of it,” Mills said after Game 2. “And you’re just thankful that you’re on the same team, that you’re not against him. He’s just incredible — his poise, his moves, and both ends.”
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None of Leonard’s 30-point playoff games came in his first three postseasons. But Leonard started for a No. 1 seed as a rookie. The Spurs were devastated in 2013, losing two games in Miami after having a 3-2 series lead in the NBA Finals. Leonard and the Spurs came back the next year and beat the Heat in five games, as Leonard secured his first championship and finals MVP while averaging 17.8 points as a third option and guarding LeBron James. That was the origin of Leonard’s response technique.
“People forget that he was a defensive player,” Mills said. “That’s why we won in San Antonio. That’s why he was the Finals MVP. And then to come and deliver a game on the offensive end too, a decade later — I mean, it’s just unbelievable to see.”
Ben Simmons was with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019 when they went on the road for a Game 7 against Leonard’s Toronto Raptors. That postseason was full of defining responses for Leonard, none more iconic than his series-ending buzzer-beater. Simmons was guarding Leonard on that final possession, in a game in which Leonard scored 41 points on 39 shots.
“I’ve seen it happen,” Simmons said. “I’ve guarded him. Yeah, he makes big plays, and he’s always level-headed.”
In Game 1 of the quarterfinals against the Orlando Magic in 2019, Leonard and Marc Gasol miscommunicated on a pick-and-roll, allowing DJ Augustin to make a game-winning 3-pointer. For good measure, Leonard air-balled a potential game-tying 3. Leonard’s response? Thirty-seven points in Game 2 on 15-of-22 shooting.
Against Simmons’ 76ers, Leonard had his first career postseason game with seven turnovers in a Game 4 Raptors win that tied the series. Leonard’s response in Game 5? Zero turnovers in a 36-point Raptors win.
And after Leonard ended the 76ers, he helped author Toronto’s comeback series victory in the Eastern Conference finals against the Milwaukee Bucks despite trailing 2-0. He turned in back-to-back games of at least 30 points on the road in the NBA Finals after the Golden State Warriors stole home-court advantage in Game 2 at Toronto. That’s when Leonard won his second finals MVP.
“Everybody in this locker room believes in each other, so it’s an expectation,” Simmons said. “We know who (Leonard) is. We know who James (Harden) is. We know what everyone’s capable of. We all got faith and trust in each other. So I’m not shocked. It’s Kawhi, you know?”
Even as a Clipper, Leonard has patented the response game. Everyone remembers when Luka Dončić beat the Clippers at the buzzer in the bubble in 2020 to tie that quarterfinal series at 2-2. Two days later, Leonard only needed three quarters to score 32 points in a 43-point Game 5 Clippers victory; the Dallas Mavericks didn’t win another game in that series.
A year later, Leonard air-balled a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the end of a Game 5 home loss that gave the Mavericks a 3-2 series lead. Backup Clippers point guard Rajon Rondo stared a hole through Leonard after the missed shot.
How did Leonard respond? He tied his postseason career high with 45 points in Game 6 at Dallas, the most points he’d ever scored in a road game, while making a career-best 18 field goals. The Clippers won Games 6 and 7 against the Mavericks, the last playoff series he finished fully healthy.
“It’s always a different situation for me,” Leonard said. “Next game is going to be like no other game. It’s what’s in front of me, and that’s what I’m approaching. All I know is that I’ve been there before. I’ve been here. And like I always say, as long as you’re playing hard and having fun, you can live with the outcome. Just leave it all out on the floor. And that’s what I take pride in.”
Leonard had to navigate Game 2 perfectly. He hinted after his underwhelming Game 1 that he and his teammates had “to be decisive, get more in attack-mode situations.” He set the tone for that right away, using a Norman Powell screen to get Jamal Murray switched onto him. Leonard drove Murray into the paint for his first basket, and he made all five of his first-quarter field-goal attempts.
The Clippers trailed for most of the first half, the opposite of Game 1, when they led by as many as 15 points in the second quarter. But Leonard refused to let the game get away from LA, and he refused to miss shots. Leonard beat the halftime buzzer with a 3 that gave the Clippers a 55-52 halftime lead; that wound up being the same margin of victory. The only shot that Leonard missed in the first three quarters was a 3-pointer that went in and out.
Leonard paced himself in the third quarter, making his only two field-goal attempts while resting for the final five and a half minutes of the period. That enabled him to empty the tank in the fourth.
Leonard had a key assist with 90 seconds left, deciding not to force his own shot and dishing to Powell for a go-ahead 3 that forced a Denver timeout. The Clippers never trailed again.
Leonard hunched over at center court during that timeout. But there was a sense of satisfaction in that moment, one that comes from an elite player resurfacing after years of missing time with multiple right knee procedures.
“I’m just happy that I’m able to move and coming out the game feeling well,” Leonard said. “That’s what I’m taking my pride in, is just being healthy. I’ve sat and watched these playoff games and series for the past few years. So being able to be in the front line out there, it just feels good for me, no matter which way the game goes.”
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(Top photo: David Zalubowksi / Associated Press)
