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Through three-and-a-half quarters, Monday night's Game 2 between the LA Clippers and Denver Nuggets felt eerily similar to Game 1 two nights ago. Except this time, Kawhi Leonard put on his superhero cape and willed his Clippers to a win on the backs of a historic performance.
But this was nothing new for Leonard and nothing his Clippers team didn't already know he was capable of.
Kawhi Leonard reacts to 39 point eruption against Nuggets in Game 2
Kawhi Leonard scored a game-high 39 points for the Clippers with three rebounds and five assists while shooting 78.9 percent from the field.
“I think I made shots tonight, shot a little bit more than I did last game, but it wasn't about that,” Leonard said after the Game 2 victory. “Some of my turnovers last game was just being aggressive and trying to save the ball, getting rebounds, getting pushed out of bounds. The one that stuck out to me was obviously that one getting it tipped off my hip. It was great defense by them, so I just wanted to come out and get a win.”
Leonard made his first six shots, missed one, and then made his next six attempts. On the night, Leonard shot an ultra-efficient 15-of-19 from the field, including 11-of-12 on two-pointers, 4-of-7 on three-pointers, and 6-of-6 in the painted area.
The Kawhi Leonard shot chart from Game 2 of Clippers-Nuggets:
15-of-19 FG
11-of-12 2PT
4-of-7 3PT
6-of-6 in the paint pic.twitter.com/Vpb4c0WxXa— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) April 22, 2025
“I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone,” Kawhi Leonard added when asked about his efficiency. “No matter if I’m missing or making shots, I’m trying to go to the next play and that’s it. Just focused on the next play and trying to win, get to my spot and shoot. Just live with the outcome, no matter what game it is, no matter how good or bad it’s going.”
After committing seven turnovers in Game 1, Leonard played a much cleaner Game 2 turning the ball over just once.
According to Stathead, Leonard had the fifth game in NBA playoff history of at least 39 points while shooting 78 percent or better from the field.
“This is what Kawhi lives for,” Tyronn Lue said after the Game 2 win over the Nuggets. “Trying to get to this point where he’s healthy for the playoffs. We know if we got a healthy Kawhi, we can win any series. And that just shows you tonight what he’s capable of doing. I think the week layoff kind of hurt him for Game 1. When he's off a little bit, he has a slow start, but tonight, we needed every bit of it.”=
“It's hard work. Every time someone gives up on him, he comes back. He's a hard worker, he's dedicated to keeping his body right and sometimes some unfortunate things happen, and you can't control that, but it's not from a lack of work or a lack of wanting to be here. Sometimes some bad luck hits and he's going to keep coming back and he's going to get to this point right now and that's why I'm so happy for him.”
James Harden added 18 points, seven assists, and two blocked shots while Ivica Zubac double-doubled with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists. Norman Powell struggled in the first three quarters again, but had a big fourth quarter scoring seven points on 3-of-4 shooting, including two shots to give the Clippers the lead.
“We had a some guys gut through a couple things, a couple knick-knack injuries,” Lue added “Those guys stayed with it, they played, and I'm proud of our team. Just getting down big, coming back to fight, a couple calls didn't go our way, but we stayed with it. We stayed poised, and for me, the mentality at halftime was the grit and the grind. It wasn't making shots. It was get your ass back in transition, guard the basketball, be physical, and everything else is going to take care of himself. Just a total team effort and that's who we have to be every night.”
Nikola Jokic finished with a triple-double, recording 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, but committed seven turnovers in his 43 minutes of play. As a team, the Nuggets committed 20 turnovers, which the Clippers scored 21 points off of.
“They had 20 last game,” Nikola Jokic explained after the loss. “I had a lot, especially late. I threw it to Kawhi basically. They were definitely aggressive, they were attacking us, they were attacking the ball. They even pre-rotated to attack the ball, so they were definitely aggressive in those moments and they kind of rotated and scrambled around.
With regards to Leonard, Jokic was at a loss for how exactly to force Leonard into a tougher night considering the degree of difficulty on some of his shots.
“I think that he had a night,” Jokic added. “It's really hard, maybe we should make him feel more crowded, but I think he's so used to it. He did make tough shots, but are they really tough shots for him, the guy who is making those for such a long period of time. So maybe we just need to do a little bit more different, make him hesitate a little bit more.”
The Clippers and Nuggets will each get two days off here before the series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Thursday night. Intuit Dome, the new home of the LA Clippers, will be hosting its first ever playoff games this Thursday and Saturday.
