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LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard was hardly the primary defender on Luka Doncic during the Los Angeles Clippers' Game 1 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday afternoon. Expect that to change come Tuesday night for Game 2, says head coach Tyronn Lue.
Doncic lit the Clippers up for 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists, with 16 of those points coming while being defended by Ivica Zubac, per NBA.com/stats.
Leonard was Doncic's primary defender for a grand total of 1:43 of game time. He attempted no shots during that time, but did pass out for other players to score.
“He has to carry a lot of the load offensively.” Lue said of Kawhi Leonard guarding Doncic prior to Sunday's film session. “We have three or four guys that we can put on him and mix it up, but I think you’ll get what you’re asking for come Tuesday.”
“We’ve got multiple guys, we wanna give him different looks, but I think you’ll get what you want Tuesday.”
Ty Lue on Kawhi Leonard not being the primary defender on Luka Doncic. #Clippers
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) May 23, 2021
Leonard finished with a team-high 26 points to go along with 10 rebounds, five assists, and four steals. He spent more time defending the likes of Kristaps Porzingis (4:10) and Maxi Kleber (3:19).
Part of the Clippers' struggles to open the series on Sunday was their inability to turn the switch on from the start. Instead, they started the game shooting just 2-of-11 from the field and trailed 17-6 at the first timeout.
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“I thought a couple guys took bad shots early on and they were able to get out in transition and got some easy baskets,” Lue added. “I thought they attacked early on by getting to the basket, getting to the paint, and spraying out for 3. But I thought just us easing into the game, not bringing that physicality that I wanted to see to start the game, and they were able to get out to a 17-6 lead like you said, so after that, we picked up. Our physicality picked up. It’s the playoffs, you can’t ease into the game, we gotta be physical right from the jump and have a defensive mindset, so we’ll be better come Tuesday.”
While Kawhi Leonard didn't have the defensive impact on Luka Doncic specifically in Game 1, he did lead the Clippers out of their rough shooting stretch. Leonard scored 13 of his 26 points in the first quarter, but dropped off significantly in that department as the game went along. He did, however, also throw down one of the nastiest dunks of his career over Maxi Kleber.
Kawhi Leonard just murdered Maxi Kleber 🔥 pic.twitter.com/0QCSoHYfsL
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) May 22, 2021
“I thought the first half was great [for Kawhi]. I thought he had to extend a lot of energy to get us back into the game and because we had a slow start in the third quarter, I thought he was tired, might’ve gotten a little tired because he was having to play so hard and be so aggressive in that first half, but his focus is great.
“I like what I saw in that first half in terms of attacking the basket, getting downhill, getting into the paint. That’s what we need him to do for 48 minutes. Like I said, first game in a while, so I like what I saw, I like the way he attacked, now he’s gotta keep getting there.”
Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. PT on TNT.
