He didn’t need to discuss his greatest sport of the season, about how he was a drive, about how he performed at such a excessive degree.
The sport wasn’t about his season-high 33 factors, Kawhi Leonard mentioned. It wasn’t about how he performed practically 40 minutes or his season-high 10 rebounds.
For Leonard, the sport was only a reminder of the Clippers’ struggles for the reason that All-Star break.
Even with Leonard taking part in arguably his greatest sport of the season, the Clippers misplaced 108-102 to the Lakers on Sunday night time at Crypto.com Enviornment.
“Just got to get better,” Leonard. “It’s not about individual accolades. We got to get a team win. And I think I said we got to limit our mistakes and hopefully the ball falls for us in the future.”
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, nonetheless, had excessive reward for Leonard. He appreciated that Leonard had 4 offensive rebounds and the way he performed with goal.
“When he’s trusting, he’s going to the offensive glass,” Lue mentioned. “You saw him crash and explode for some offensive rebounds. Having 10 rebounds, that’s what I kind of look at when I gauge how Kawhi is playing, if he’s rebounding the basketball. And he did that well tonight, along with scoring the basketball. So, like I said, he’s coming, starting to get his legs, starting to feel better and we’re going to need that.”
The Clippers have misplaced 5 of six video games for the reason that break.
They’re nonetheless sixth within the Western Convention, however are tied with the Golden State Warriors at 32-28. And the Minnesota Timberwolves (33-29), Sacramento Kings (31-28) and Dallas Mavericks (32-29) are proper on their heels for the ultimate assured playoff spot.
“Just got to keep fighting,” Leonard mentioned. “Got to stay focused each and every game and try to limit our mistakes.”
The Clippers had a horrible finish to the second quarter, not scoring for the ultimate 7 minutes 35 seconds, falling behind 13 factors by halftime. They trailed by as a lot as 21 factors within the third quarter.
However Leonard scored 10 factors within the fourth, together with a three-pointer that acquired the Clippers to inside 5 factors with 1:40 left.
The Clippers didn’t rating once more.
“We got down 21 tonight. I liked our fight to come back, didn’t give in,” Lue mentioned. “Being able to play through adversity. Being able to play through missed shots. So, I give our guys credit for that. But it’s a long season. It’s a hard season. Every night is going to be a tough game and we understand that.”
Accidents damage the Clippers
The Clippers seemingly made a step towards changing into absolutely wholesome Sunday when main scorer Norman Powell returned, just for the veteran guard to depart within the first quarter due to proper hamstring soreness.
Powell performed 9 minutes and scored 4 factors. He missed the earlier 5 video games due to a left knee damage (patellar tendinopathy).
“He’s going to get re-evaluated tomorrow,” Lue mentioned.
The Clippers additionally didn’t have function participant Derrick Jones Jr. (proper groin pressure) and Ben Simmons (left knee soreness) in opposition to the Lakers. Lue mentioned Simmons is taken into account each day.
