I hate to say this of an NBA legend, but he’s honestly stealing a living. The LA Clippers now find themselves down 3-1 to the Phoenix Suns as Kawhi Leonard, who was instrumental in the opening two games, has cost LA by sitting out the last two games.
I don’t even know what to say about Kawhi anymore other than he should just retire.
In the wake of the Clippers losing their second home game to the Suns 112-100, LA now finds itself down 3-1 in a series they really should at least be tied in (if not winning) as these two teams are very evenly matched…when all their superstars are playing.
But, unlike the Suns who have had major production out of Kevin Durant (27.8 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 6.8 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG), Devin Booker (34.8 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 5.5 APG, 2.8 SPG, 1.3 BPG), Chris Paul (13.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 85. APG), and DeAndre Ayton (14.8 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 0.3 APG), the Clippers have only been able to rely on Russell Westbrook and Norman Powell (who is not one of their superstars) to score since Game 2.
Seriously, Westbrook (26.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 7.3 APG, 1.5 SPG, 1.8 BPG) and Powell (20.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.0 SPG) are the only two Clippers players to average at least 13+ PPG across the entire series, while there’s obviously been five Phoenix players (Torrey Craig, Durant, Booker, Paul, Ayton) to do so.
Obviously, you aren’t going to win a series when you have five opposing players scoring 13+ points a night, while there’s only two on your team doing the same feat.
Still, this scoring disparity might not be so egregious if Kawhi Leonard, who currently is the leading scoring on the Clippers and the second-highest scorer in the series with 34.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 6.0 APG, 2.0 SPG, was actually able to play more than 2 games a week.
In the opening two games, the Clippers not only looked like a much more dangerous, versatile team as Leonard was draining fade-aways and Westbrook was dominating at the rim and on defense (which helped them win Game 1), but they also were making clutch shots. Lead by Leonard, the Clippers opened both games with 1st quarter leads and they outscored the Suns 34-29 in the 4th quarter of Game 1 to steal that victory in Phoenix.
And they were defending well!
Contrary to what many would have imagined as the Clippers finished with the 12th best defense in the NBA (113.o PPG allowed), the Clippers were actually defending the Suns dynamic starting lineup very well as Phoenix, who averaged 113.6 PPG without KD in the regular season only averaged 117 PPG with KD in the opening two games.
Sure, it’s better than their season averages and the Clippers defensive average, but only scoring four more points than expected with KEVIN DURANT is a win in the Clippers’ book.
Obviously, there was no guarantee the Clippers would pull off the upset (by the seeding standing alone) series victory as Paul George, who suffered a right knee sprain a few weeks before the playoffs stated, was not scheduled to feature at all in the opening round, but there was still a chance this series could go to 6 or 7.
Nonetheless, ever since Kawaii Leonard sat out the past two games with “right knee swelling”, the Clippers have utterly collapsed.
Norman Powell’s Game 3 heroics (42 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST) couldn’t overcome a 9-point Suns lead with under two minutes left as LA lost 129-124, while Russell Westbrook’s MVP-caliber Game 4 (37 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST) wasn’t enough to stop the Suns from blowing away the Clippers in the final two quarters 64-54 to win 112-100.
This Clippers team was solely built around Kawahi and his skillsets, and it completely crumbles when he misses games (which is far too often). I’m not trying to say that Leonard isn’t really hurt or that he just doesn’t care about the Clippers as that would be unfair, but I am saying that Leonard obviously can’t play basketball at an elite level anymore.
He can still post 38+ point games and average 34+ points in small sample sizes, but that’s the issue. Leonard can only play in small sample sizes!
Like I said, this series would at least be tied 2-2 right now as the Clippers would have won Game 3 and maybe even Game 4 if Leonard was in the lineup. Yet, as Leonard has shown throughout his entire time in Los Angeles, he’s allergic to the word availability as he’s missed 167 regular season games, 10 playoff games, and 49% of the total games available for him to play these last four seasons.
You don’t need me to say that’s not good enough for a player getting paid $42M this year and $45M next season.
Personally, if I was Clippers owner Steve Balmer, I’d try and trade away Leonard and start a retool as he’s just not healthy enough to carry a team to a championship as he did in Toronto. Reversely, if I was Leonard, I’d seriously consider retiring after the end of next year (when his contract is up) as he’s clearly suffering serious side effects from his ACL surgery last year.
It’s sad to see an NBA legend go out this way, but the Clippers and Leonard have to face reality before it’s too late and this situation is unsalvageable.
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