INGLEWOOD — The Clippers haven’t gotten off to a bad start this season, at all, and in fact they’ve pretty well exceeded expectations. They’re 18-13, they’ve won 11 of their first 17 in the gleaming new Intuit Dome, and they’re fifth in the NBA in scoring defense.
All of that while down a superstar. And Kawhi Leonard does cast a large shadow.
The six-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion was supposed to team with Paul George and lead this franchise into serious competition for the championship trophy – the “Larry O’B,” as team owner Steve Ballmer memorably bellowed into a microphone on the day Nos. 2 and 13 were introduced as Clippers in the summer of 2019.
It hasn’t worked out that way. The closest the two got as linchpins of this franchise was a Western Conference finals berth in 2021. George is gone to Philadelphia, and Kawhi spends game nights on the bench in sweats these days, as he did Friday night when the rest of the Clippers defeated a Golden State Warriors club that was playing without Steph Curry and Draymond Green, 102-92.
I suspect he’s restless, even though his demeanor would never give it away. The knee that betrayed him during last season’s first-round playoff series with Dallas, and forced him to leave the U.S. Olympic team in the summer, is tantalizingly close to being game ready, and forgive the Clippers and their fans if they’re getting antsy.
He is back on the practice floor – under the familiar veil of secrecy – and although nothing official has come from anybody involved with the team, Law Murray of The Athletic reported Friday that the Jan. 4 home game against Atlanta is the new target date for Leonard’s return.
He has played in 229 of 431 regular-season games and 28 of 43 playoff games since coming home to SoCal. He has not suited up yet this season, and while unofficial the reports of his imminent return marked a change from the usual procedure, which is for Clippers personnel to say he’s checking all the boxes, making progress, has good days and bad days with his knee, etc.
Kawhi being famously secretive about his health – and about most things, to be honest – you’ll probably never hear a definitive return date from him. And you’ll hardly hear much more from anyone else in the Clippers’ organization. Since the season when his relationship with the San Antonio Spurs ruptured over speculation as he was recovering from an injury, team officials are overly cautious about what they say regarding his health.
Intimidated? That’s a fair assessment.
A fair question is how good the Clippers can be once he’s in the lineup. Friday night they had a 19-point lead early in the third quarter, let 16 points of it get away but rallied down the stretch to put away the Warriors despite giving up 19 offensive rebounds, being outmuscled on the glass 47-39 overall and turning it over 23 times (12 in the fourth quarter). Imagine if the visitors had shot better than 36.8% from the field.
But, as our beat writer Janis Carr pointed out, it’s probably not wise to say the Clippers have overachieved. James Harden and Norman Powell have carried much of the load, Ivica Zubac is a rock in the middle – gee, Laker fans, imagine if your team hadn’t traded him away – and people like Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr., Amir Coffey and heady veteran Nicolas Batum have contributed their share.
Head coach Ty Lue said Friday night that “guys get used to running (Kawhi’s) plays in practice, the things we run for him, so that when he gets back they’d be up to speed. … And then just for him, just getting his conditioning, getting his timing. We’re playing 10-minute scrimmages just to kind of get him acclimated to playing five-on-five, which has been good for us.”
In the meantime, he said, having the attitude that they can win without their best player “is half the battle, when you step on the floor, no matter who’s on the court, of having that mindset that we can win games. That’s been our model for the last five years or so.
“But this group (is) top five defensively. Offense, we just find ways to win games with different guys every single night (stepping) up. And that’s what we need. We talked about just holding it down until Kawhi was able to get back, and our group has been doing a good job of that.”
Harden said he and Leonard talked about his imminent return on the bench.
“He feels like he don’t want to just come over and mess up the flow and chemistry that we’ve been building up,” Harden said. “But I don’t think it’s gonna be a problem. … He’s a hooper, so I think he’ll figure it out and we’ll help him figure it out. One thing about it is, he’s really elite on both ends of the ball. And when you’re that special a talent, things come to you naturally.
“Our defense has been unbelievable. He’s going to add to that, and the offense is definitely going to need a little help and he’s going to add to it as well. So overall, we’re excited.”
The excitement is to be expected. But, as those who follow the Clippers should know by now, it’s best not to get carried away until he’s actually seen in uniform.
jalexander@scng.com
