INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Your team goes as far as your best player goes. Last night, the statement was made clear in the loud Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 118-109, and they were led by their Superstar Kawhi Leonard.
In 35 minutes of play, he had a stat line of 30 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals with shooting splits of 52/66/100 just an all-round great game on both ends of the floor.
Clippers Head Coach Tyronn Lue knows how vital it is to ensure Leonard is at his best for the betterment of the team.
“Yeah, it’s very important, just to get him active, get him going early in the game, get him touches so he can kind of get a rhythm. And like I said, that’s my job and responsibility to do that. I thought he got off to a great start, which got us off to that great start. And then, they went small. It kind of pressured us to pick this up full court. We handled their pressure very well.”
While Leonard is more than capable of being the driving force every night, he takes a different approach when it pertains to getting it going early.
“I mean, it’s great for any of us to get going early, you know what I mean? If any of us sees me, Zu, James, you know Bradley Beal, Bogdan Bogdanovic get going, it excites everybody. I mean, I made shots. Our defensive plays always gets the team, motivated, but I thank them for putting me in those positions to try and do something for the team and just got to keep getting better.”
Stats vs. Impact
Watching Leonard not only his time with the Clippers but his entire career. His greatness is determined by looking at more than the stat sheet. He’s never led the league in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, or blocks.
Unlike other superstars, Leonard’s impact is felt when watching the actual game over reading the stat sheet. There is one particular stat though that trumps everything, and that is winning. Leonard is currently ranked third all-time in winning percentage at 73.5% behind Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
Last night, the Blazers controlled much of the second quarter by pressuring the ball on defense while being aggressive on offense, which Leonard gave them credit for how hard they completed.
“What they did tonight they’ve been playing like that all year with paste make or miss everyone is playing very aggressively shooting the ball attacking passing playing 94 feet defense.”
With each attempt from the Blazers to increase the pressure of their inexperience and lack of having a consistent bucket getter like their injured star Damian Lillard is where they came up short. Leonard used that to the Clippers advantage controlling the game with scoring, crashing the boards, playmaking when getting double teamed, and most importantly making his presence on defense.
What does Leonard value?
Winning. Simple as that. Last night, Leonard scored when the team needed to score, and got others involved when it was called to get others involved. This is something that has been instilled in Leonard since coming into the league being coached by former San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich whom he credits to this day.
“I appreciate everything he has done for me… he helped build my foundation and showed me how to win.”
Kawhi Leonard reflects postgame on his former coach, the legendary Gregg Popovich 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/bWkrJjvxCT
— NBA (@NBA) May 4, 2025
Just like the Spurs motto “team over me” is what Leonard has taken with him throughout the rest of his career. Not the prototypical mindset of a Superstar of Leonard’s caliber, but that is what makes him unique. Able to show his greatness while quietly making sure his teammates are the best versions of themselves.
