Anything is gravy for the Los Angeles Clippers at this point of the season; anything they achieve from here on out will already be such a huge win when taking into account where they were to start the 2025-26 NBA season. This Clippers team started the season having lost 21 of their first 27 games, and it looked like a complete teardown was in order. But then Kawhi Leonard turned into arguably his most dominant self yet and rescued the Clippers from the depths.
At the time of writing, the Clippers have a 36-36 record, which means that they've won 30 of their past 45 games. This is a team that cannot be underestimated, as not even a bit of a roster overhaul prior to the trade deadline has stopped LA in its tracks.
Now, the Clippers have hit a rough patch as of late. But they have still gone 9-5 in the month of March and have managed to rise all the way to the eighth seed in the Western Conference — a scenario that would sound preposterous to any fan of the team had this news been delivered back in the middle of December.
But with everything going well for the Clippers, especially in light of where they're coming from, some fans may be anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is the Clippers franchise, after all; there may have been good moments in the team's history, but somehow, someway, misfortune finds its way into the franchise's path.
To that end, this is the scenario any Clippers fan will be dreading as the postseason nears and the start of the play-in tournament approaches.
Clippers' nightmare scenario: Kawhi Leonard suffers injury before play-in
As mentioned earlier, the very fact that the Clippers have managed to rise from the dead in this manner is already a huge win for the franchise. Never mind that the Clippers will be forking over another first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the middle of the first round. The fact that they have a shot at not conceding a lottery pick is already a huge win.
The Paul George trade is already a sunk cost. They invested too many resources on a team that had two to three years of contending juice, and in the end, the injury problems for the team became too much to overcome.
It will be a cruel twist of the knife if somehow, injury problems become the thing that stops the Clippers yet again from surpassing their lofty expectations.
Leonard, in particular, is the healthiest he has been for years. There were signs last season that the 34-year-old star was in decline and that he's on the downturn of his career. He had some memorable explosions in the playoffs, but he did not appear to have that superstar ability to carry teams anymore.
But Leonard's knees look healthier than ever; in fact, it's his ankles that have been giving him the most problem all season long. For someone dealing with chronic knee issues, Leonard's health has been quite the gift. It would be a shame if Leonard, knock on wood, somehow re-aggravates his knee troubles which would then keep him out for a play-in tournament game or two for the Clippers.
Leonard's injury problems in the playoffs are well-documented. He tore his ACL in 2021, when it looked like the Clippers had their best chance to win a title. In 2023, he tore his meniscus after fighting his heart out against the Phoenix Suns in the first round amid George's injury. And then in 2024, with the Clippers having found new lease in life with James Harden, Leonard was a shell of himself and was a non-factor in a six-game series defeat to the Dallas Mavericks.
There is nothing that could go wrong for the Clippers more than if Leonard sustains a serious injury. This is the scenario that would cause the sky to fall outside of Intuit Dome and this would put quite the damper on what has been a fun rollercoaster of a season for LA.
Clippers' nightmare matchup scenario: LA falls to 10th, face Stephen Curry-led Warriors
As far as matchups go, the Clippers should be firmly stuck within the seven to 10 range in the Western Conference postseason picture. They are 7.5 games back of the sixth-placed Houston Rockets in the win-loss column at the time of writing, which is a deficit that is close to impossible to make up with 12 games remaining in the season.
The Clippers can still reach the seventh spot, which gives them homecourt advantage in the 7/8 play-in game. This is favorable for LA; they are 20-15 at home, and if they lose, they still have one more chance to make it to the playoffs in another home game against the winner of the 9/10 matchup.
The Clippers, however, are closer to falling to 10th than they are to rising to seventh. They are 3.5 games behind the Phoenix Suns, while they are only two games ahead of the struggling Golden State Warriors. There is a chance that the Clippers still fall to the 10th seed, especially when they have three games remaining against the Dubs (one) and the ninth-placed Portland Trail Blazers (two).
What LA would want to avoid is falling to 10th, as they will be forced to fight for their postseason life on the road against one of two teams with winning records at home. The Clippers are only 16-21 away from Intuit Dome, which is far from the worst, but it's not the most promising either.
What would suck even more is if the Clippers end up matching up against a Warriors team in the 9/10 play-in game as the away side with Stephen Curry having returned from injury. Now, there is nothing concrete yet regarding when Curry is able to return.
But the Dubs have been optimistic that he'll be able to play before the season is over. And Curry, given how battle-tested he is, is not someone the Clippers would want to face in a do-or-die situation on the road.
