Kawhi Leonard is slowly but surely starting to look like his old self. The Clippers superstar has been dealing with injuries once again to start this season following his ACL tear in 2021 but has delighted the fans with some of his recent displays.
Just under a week ago, he drilled a game-winner against the Charlotte Hornets, and then last night, he took apart the Boston Celtics. The Celtics were looking to bounce back from a blowout loss to the Golden State Warriors but the Clippers hammered them 113-93. Kawhi had easily his best game of the season, as he finished with 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. After the game though, Leonard said he doesn’t care about the regular season and that his focus is solely on the playoffs.
Kawhi Leonard: "I'm not worried about tonight… I don't want to be here tonight. I'm focusing on the end of the year. Playoff basketball. Doesn't matter about tonight."
— Law Murray ❓ (@LawMurrayTheNU) December 13, 2022
Kawhi Leonard: “I’m not worried about tonight… I don’t want to be here tonight. I’m focusing on the end of the year. Playoff basketball. Doesn’t matter about tonight.”
It is all well and good to focus on the playoffs, but showing total disregard toward the regular season isn’t the way to go. Doing things this way hasn’t worked for the Clippers since Kawhi and Paul George arrived and you do wonder if this approach will work moving forward. It is also a bit weird for Leonard to say this, considering he said not too long back that no one loves playing basketball more than him.
The Clippers’ Title Hopes Rest On Kawhi Leonard’s Shoulders
Whatever you may think of Leonard’s way of looking at things, what we know for certain is that the Clippers will only go as far as he takes them. You can make an argument that they have the deepest roster in the NBA, as quite a few of their reserves would be starters on a lot of teams but it still wouldn’t matter come playoffs if Kawhi isn’t around.
We saw that in 2021 when the Clippers managed to beat the Utah Jazz even with Leonard missing the end of that series, but the Phoenix Suns led by Devin Booker proved to be too much to handle in the Western Conference Finals in Kawhi’s absence. It will be a similar story this time around as well, even if their overall roster is better now, so they are going to do everything they can to make sure he stays upright for the postseason.
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