As the team seeks to leave behind a section very irregular and sometimes incompleteThe LA Clippers at least they can smile when they see Kawhi Leonard regaining the best version of himself. An example of this was the forward’s duty this Friday when those from Lou they prevailed in San Antonio with a tight 131-126.
With 36 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds, Leonard was the big man of the night and kept the Angels from suffering a loss that would lead to too many reexaminations. With one off Paul George (16 points), Leonard pushed from the car, helped by some very good production from his bench Norman Powell (26 points, 9-11 from the field).
Kawhi Leonard’s explosiveness looks back 👀pic.twitter.com/gHQ6ldbCGg
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 21, 2023
Seeing Kawhi at this level isn’t surprising considering what he’s done over the past three weeks. In this division he has played eight games and averaged 28.6 points. In the previous 15 meetings? Only 16.2 units average. The Los Angeles native seems to be almost done dusting himself off a year and a half of inactivity.
Again, Leonard’s present doesn’t coincide with a good Clippers present as a team (3-5 points in those eight games), but it’s clear that If they want to compete this 2022-2023, it all has to start with Kawhi’s return to All-Star mode. And that is exactly what is happening in this 2023, finding regularity on the field but also in terms of appearances (he has only missed in matches of back to back).
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Kawhi carries the Clippers to San Antonio. He has 30 points on 89.5% True Shooting. Not even the 4th quarter yet. pic.twitter.com/Zzo8ZwpyQX
— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) January 21, 2023
Another good one for the Clippers, now in general: the 131 points were a season high in non-overtime games, surpassing the 130 they had added against Indiana on Dec. 31. We’ll see if it helps maintain an improvement, in a team that continues its four-game road trip (having just lost in Utah) facing Dallas and then to your neighbors Lakers.
If the Clippers intend to enter the fray in the West, this is the exact time to do it.
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