Kawhi Leonard missed the Los Angeles Clippers’ final eight games of the regular season with inflammation in his surgically
repaired right knee. However, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue is preparing as if the six-time All-Star forward will play when they host the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at Crypto.com Arena in Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series.
The last time Leonard played was on March 31 when he scored 23 points on 10-of-19 shots while playing 37 minutes during a 130-118 victory at Charlotte. Since then, the Clippers have been taking it day-by-day with Leonard.
“Film session yesterday, just going over what (the Mavs) do, what they like to do and then just their play sets,” Lue said. “And then yesterday went through a walk-through of five plays to start and just how we wanted to guard it and defend it.
“And then station work with plays, and then we did some defensive stations, and then we came back and played a little half court. Five-on-five.”
Lue said Leonard didn’t participate in the five-on-five workouts. Lue then added: “Hey, look here, man. He looked OK. He looked OK.”
Leonard led the Clippers in scoring this season with 23.7 points, and also averaged 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals while shooting 52.5 percent from the field and a robust 41.7 percent from three-point land in a team-high tying 34.3 minutes per game. While the Clippers get a huge offensive surge from Paul George (22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds) and James Harden (16.6 points, 8.5 assists), they know it’ll be extremely difficult to defeat the Mavs if Leonard is unable to play and unable to have an impact.
Thus, Lue said there is no part of his game plan that doesn’t have Leonard in the starting lineup on Sunday. Lue said: “I’m preparing for him — to have him on the court.”
When the Clippers defeated the Mavs in six games in the first round of the 2020 playoffs, Leonard averaged 32.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in his team’s four wins, and 33.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in the two losses. He also finished with 33 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and five steals in the 111-97 close-out victory.
And when the Clippers edged the Mavs in seven games in the opening round of the 2021 playoffs, Leonard averaged 33.8 points and 8.5 rebounds in his team’s four wins, and 29 points and seven rebounds in their three losses. Also, after the Mavs led that series, 3-2, Leonard finished with 45 points and six rebounds in the 104-97 victory in Game 6, and 28 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and four steals in the 126-111 win in Game 7.
In other words, so goes Leonard, so goes the Clippers.
Meanwhile, Leonard was given the final and 12th roster spot on Tuesday for Team USA, which will be participating in this summer’s Olympics in Paris.
“I think it’s his first time playing,” Lue said. “Having an opportunity to be on the USA team is big — to be able to represent your country.
“So, just excited he decided to do it and excited that he made it.”
In the meantime, Game 2 of the Mavs-Clippers series will be Tuesday at 9 p.m. in LA. The series will then shift to Dallas for Game 3 on April 26 at 7 p.m., and Game 4 on April 28 at 2:30 p.m.
If necessary, Game 5 will be back in Los Angeles on May 1, Game 6 in Dallas on May 3, and Game 7 in LA on May 5.
In addition to Leonard’s health concerns, the Clippers also are wondering how they’re going to deal with Mavs guard Luka Dončić.
In the 2020 playoffs against the Clippers, Dončić averaged 31 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists. And in the 2021 playoffs against the Clippers, he averaged 35.7 points, 7.9 rebounds and 10.3 assists and produced three games in that seven-game series where he scored over 40 points.
“I mean he’s 6-8 and he’s a hell of a passer, so you got to pick your poison,” Lue said. “I think you got to just give him different looks to try to keep him off-balance.
“But he’s too great to give him a steady diet, the same thing over and over again. So, you got to mix up your coverages. You got to do different things to try to keep ’em off-balance.”
Lue also knows he has to devise a scheme to slow down guard Kyrie Irving, who, along with Dončić, provides the Mavs with arguably the most prolific one-two scoring punch in the NBA.
“Yeah, I mean they’re a tough team when Luka has 40 (points), 15 (rebounds) and eight or nine (assists), so we know he’s going to score,” Lue said. “He’s that good. He’s going to get enough attempts to score the basketball. So, we just can’t let him get 40 (points), 15
(rebounds) and eight (assists).”
Dončić led the NBA in scoring this season with 33.9 points, was second in assists (9.8) and had the highest rebounding average (9.2) among any guard in the NBA. Irving, meanwhile, averaged 25.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists this season.
“If (Dončić) gets 40 (points) and five (assists) or 40 (points) and four (assists), that’s a different team,” Lue said. “So, now guys are not getting open threes, guys are not getting shots.
“So, you just got to kind of pick your poison, see what he has going that night, and then kind of take it from there. But if he has those 40-point games, but he’s having 15 or 16 assists, you’re in for a long night.”
The Clippers know they’ll probably be in for an even longer night if Leonard’s time on the court in this series is limited.
X: @DwainPrice
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