Clippers Even Series
Kawhi Leonard showed his veteran skills by helping the Clippers complete a take-back of home-court advantage with a 105-102 win over Denver, tying the playoff series at 1-1.
By Earl Heath | Contributing Sports Writer
Kawhi Leonard showed his veteran skills by helping the Clippers complete a take-back of home-court advantage with a 105-102 win over Denver, tying the playoff 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 the one getting tipped off my hip. Just great defense by them. So, just wanted to come out and get a win.”
Game two marked Leonard’s second-career playoff game with 35-plus points on 75-plus field goal percentage, making him the fourth player in the league’s history to accomplish the feat multiple times in the postseason. Booker (3x), Nowitzki (2x), and Shaquille O’Neal (2x) are the other three. It was the 18th time in Leonard’s 13-year career that he scored 35-plus in the playoffs, and his 15th 30-point playoff game for the Clippers, the most in LA’s franchise history.
“This is what Kawhi lives for,” said coach Tyronn Lue after the masterful display from the superstar forward. “We know if we got a healthy Kawhi, we can win any series.”
Nikola Jokic, who recorded his 19th career playoff triple-double, grabbed the rebound but also missed a 3, with 1 second remaining.
The series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 Thursday night.
The Clippers, who lost Game 1 in overtime, haven’t lost back-to-back games since March 2-4, a stretch of 23 games, and they handed David Adelman his first loss in five games since replacing Michael Malone in a stunning move on the eve of the playoffs.
Jokic, just the third player to average a triple-double over a season, had 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, and Jamal Murray added 23 points for the Nuggets, who also got a bounce-back game from Michael Porter Jr. (15 points and 15 rebounds) after his 3-point performance in Game 1.
It wasn’t enough against Leonard, who had 21 points at the break, including a pull-up 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer that broke a 52-all tie.
“To his credit, he was awesome tonight,” Denver coach Adelman said.
“He just got to his spots,” Murray said. “And even when we’re there, he made some tough shots. He had a night. He got going, and he was tough to stop.”
Leonard also had a key steal of a Jokic pass with 37 seconds remaining in the game, but Harden missed at the other end, and Braun grabbed the defensive rebound with 11 seconds left.
The Nuggets committed 20 turnovers — the same number the Clippers had in Game 1 — and missed eight free throws. “That was a killer,” Adelman added.
Well shall see what game 3 brings.
