The Los Angeles Clippers welcomed Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Luke Kennard back from injury on Monday night, but it was Leonard who stole the show with a game-winner.
With the Clippers and Charlotte Hornets tied at 117-117, Paul George and John Wall made sure to get Kawhi Leonard the ball in his spot at the free throw line extended area. From there, it was as simple as jab-step, one-dribble, and pull-up. Splash.
Kawhi Leonard's shot put the Clippers on top 119-117 with 1.4 seconds remaining. From there, the Clippers got one final stop and took home the victory.
“My teammates trusted me,” Kawhi Leonard told reporters following the Clippers' win. “I said this, but I seen I had Terry Rozier on me at the time and they did a great job of getting one of their best defenders on me and then I was able to get in my spot. John threw a good pass, and then my team gave me space and I was able to create and knock down the shot.”
The Clippers had to battle back from down nine points after leading by as many as 13 points in the first half. The third quarter saw LA offer very little resistance around the basket as Charlotte scored 36 points in the period.
“We’re up nine, eight points pretty much the whole game. I would rather close it out rather than have it us close it out like that. But it was a good fourth quarter for our second unit and we were able to get the win.”
The game marked Kawhi Leonard's first action since November 21st against the Utah Jazz. Leonard played three consecutive games in a row at that point, but suffered an ankle sprain late in the game that held him out until Monday.
“I think we're seeing him more and more get to his spots,” Paul George said of Kawhi Leonard. “We're seeing him get comfortable. We're seeing him be more aggressive as the games go on. He looked like himself, he looked like himself. He took the shots that the defense gave him, and his playmaking is always special with his ability to get to the paint and use his body. I mean, watching him, it's him just getting back to, you know, home for him.
“This is his happy place, his home right here. So we're gonna continue to support him around him, and again it just comes down to everybody now being in their roles and, you know, shining within that.”
Leonard and the entire organization are now hoping he can put together a good stretch of games where he stays healthy. He'll still be on a minutes limit and will still sit out one half of a back-to-backset, but at least he's back playing.
“No matter who’s on the floor, we’re going to compete,” head coach Tyronn Lue said pregame. “Play hard and I think we have a chance to win every game. It’s hard to really assess our team because our guys have been out for so long, but this next stretch of 20-25 games is gonna be very important to us and for us to see who we are on both sides of the basketball. With the injuries al year, we really haven’t had a chance to see our whole team and had a very very small sample size. Tonight’s the start of something new, and hopefully these next 25 games, we can start establishing who we are and who we want to be.”
Returning from injury was great, getting the win was even better, but hitting the game-winner after the last year and a half that he's had to go through? Cherry on top of it all.
“It felt good to be back. I love this game of basketball. I don’t think nobody loves playing more than me. Maybe watching. But I love this game. And it gives me joy when I am able to play. That ending is just, it is great that I was able to make that shot.”
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