Kawhi Leonard Leads Clippers Past Mavericks in Game 7 Win
Following six straight games in which the away team came out on top, the Clippers outlasted the Mavericks in Game 7 on their home floor Sunday, moving on to the second round with a 126-111 win. Like he did in Game 6, star forward Kawhi Leonard spearheaded the Clippers on both ends of the floor.
Leonard led the team with 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting. He also had 10 rebounds, nine assists, four steals and one block in a showcase two-way performance.
The game went back-and-forth for the entire first half and was tight until midway through the third quarter. The game was tied at 81 apiece with six minutes left in the period when the Clippers closed the quarter on a 19-4 run to open up a 15-point lead to start the fourth.
Los Angeles kept Dallas at arm’s length from there. The Mavericks cut the deficit to seven points with just over two minutes remaining before giving up back-to-back three-pointers by Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris.
The Clippers played a sharp game all afternoon, turning the ball over just nine times and shooting 20-for-43 on three-point attempts. Dallas held a 16-8 advantage on the offensive glass to stay in the game, but overall the Clippers’ defense gave the Mavericks fits.
Luka Doncic turned in another strong game, scoring 46 points on 17-for-30 shooting with 14 assists and seven rebounds. It was his third 40-point game of the series.
Doncic the third player in NBA history with at least 40 points and 10 assists in a Game 7, joining Jerry West and Kevin Johnson.
The Clippers will face the Jazz in the second round after losing two out of three matchups during the regular season. The Clippers have never advanced past the second round in franchise history.
Kawhi Leonard
No. 2 – Los Angeles Clippers | |
---|---|
Position | Small forward |
League | NBA |
Personal information | |
Born | June 29, 1991 Los Angeles, California |
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
Listed weight | 225 lb (102 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | |
College | San Diego State (2009–2011) |
NBA draft | 2011 / Round: 1 / Pick: 15th overall |
Selected by the Indiana Pacers | |
Playing career | 2011–present |
Career history | |
2011–2018 | San Antonio Spurs |
2018–2019 | Toronto Raptors |
2019–present | Los Angeles Clippers |
Career highlights and awards | |
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|
Stats at NBA.com | |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com |
Kawhi Anthony Leonard (/kəˈwaɪ/, born June 29, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played two seasons of college basketball for the San Diego State Aztecs and was named a consensus second-team All-American as a sophomore. Leonard opted to forgo his final two seasons at San Diego State to enter the 2011 NBA draft. He was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 15th overall pick before being traded to the San Antonio Spurs on draft night.
With the Spurs, Leonard won an NBA championship in 2014, where he was named the Finals Most Valuable Player. After seven seasons with the Spurs, Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors in 2018. In 2019, he led the Raptors to their first NBA championship in franchise history and won his second Finals MVP award (one of only three players to win Finals MVP with multiple teams, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James). He subsequently moved to his hometown of Los Angeles and signed with the Clippers as a free agent in July 2019.
Leonard is a five-time All-Star with two All-NBA First Team selections. Nicknamed the “Claw”, or “Klaw”, for his ball-hawking skills, he has earned six All-Defensive Team selections and won Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2015 and 2016.
Awards and honors
- NBA
- 2-time NBA champion: 2014, 2019
- 2-time NBA Finals MVP: 2014, 2019
- 5-time NBA All-Star: 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021
- 1-time NBA All-Star MVP: 2020
- 4-time All-NBA:
- 2-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year: 2015, 2016
- 6-time All-Defensive Selection:
- NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2012
- NBA steals leader: 2015
- College
- Consensus second team All-American (2011)
- NABC All-American Third Team (2011)
- 2× First-team All-Mountain West (2010–2011)
- 2× All-Mountain West All-Tournament Team (2010–2011)
- All-Mountain West Defensive Team (2011)
- Mountain West Tournament MVP (2010)
- Mountain West Freshman of the Year (2010)
- High school
- California Mr. Basketball (2009)
- Martin Luther King Hall of Fame (class of 2018)
For the second straight year, the Los Angeles Clippers knocked Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks out of the Western Conference playoffs in the first round.
And for the second straight season, it took one hell of an effort to put the Mavs down.
Led by Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers beat the Mavs 126-111 in Game 7, spoiling another Doncic classic (46 points).
ESPN @espn
Kawhi is too smooth 😎 pic.twitter.com/SF2cfWOeUC
NBA on ESPN @ESPNNBA
Kawhi fired up 👀 pic.twitter.com/TPIHg2d2LE
The Clippers never quite found an answer for Doncic in the series. Luckily for them, the rest of the Mavericks couldn’t play up to his level.
This was a bizarre series, with the road team winning the first six games before the Clippers finally held serve at home in Game 7. While they advance to the second round, the Mavericks will head into the offseason looking for ways to get Doncic more help.
Key Stats
Kawhi Leonard, LAC: 28 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, four steals
Paul George, LAC: 22 points, 10 assists, three steals
Marcus Morris Sr., LAC: 23 points, 7-of-9 from three
Luka Doncic, DAL: 46 points, 14 assists, seven rebounds
Kristaps Porzingis, DAL: 16 points, 11 rebounds
Tim Hardaway Jr., DAL: 11 points
Kawhi Leonard Met the Moment
The narrative around these Clippers, fair or not, has been that they lack heart and don’t come through in the clutch after last season’s collapse against the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Had they lost to Doncic and the Mavs on Sunday at home in a Game 7, that reputation would have become impossible to shake.
But Leonard, as he’s done in the past for the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors, came up clutch when the Clippers needed him. The Clippers may have a long way to go before they live up to the lofty expectations heaped upon them when Leonard and George teamed up two summers ago, but getting past Doncic is no small feat.
Michael Lee @MrMichaelLee
Kawhi Leonard had to remind everyone why he was worth such a commotion in 2019. His effort the last two games of this series – after that airball 3 at the end of Game 5 had Rajon Rondo giving him the gas face – is what the hype was all about.
Steve Jones Jr. @stevejones20
“this is the Kawhi Leonard that we were looking for against Luka Doncic, take it personal, take the challenge and eliminate his impact on the offensive end” <br>this was the play in the background where the Clippers trapped Luka as he came off the screen. pic.twitter.com/6TscuzT7Ji
Without Leonard’s big showings in Games 6 and 7, the Clippers would be on vacation.
Doncic Gave Everything He Had
What more could this man do?
ESPN @espn
“He’s a combination of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.”<br><br>—@MarkJackson13 has high praise for Luka 🤩 pic.twitter.com/dRXAQnbpzu
SportsCenter @SportsCenter
LUKA CAN’T BE STOPPED 😱<br><br>He’s got 29 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jQ6UBwqFB5
NBA @NBA
This Luka take in #PhantomCam is special. 📸<br><br>He’s got 31 PTS, 12 AST.. we’re tied in Q3<br><br>WIN or GO HOME GAME 7 on ABC pic.twitter.com/1AmIPpmJpY
SportsCenter @SportsCenter
THIS LUKA SHOT 🤯 pic.twitter.com/04CFjUp7pk
And it still wasn’t enough.
Some credit obviously goes to the Clippers, who are a good team. But much of the blame resides in Dallas’ supporting cast, who simply didn’t rise to the occasion. It’s become clear this season that Kristaps Porzingis likely will never be a good enough second option to get the Mavs over the hump.
Ben Golliver @BenGolliver
At halftime…<br>Luka Doncic: 29 points on 14 shots<br>All other Mavericks: 33 points on 33 shots
Vic Tafur @VicTafur
Porzingis ain’t it. pic.twitter.com/j8EYals8Et
Shredded the ground baking @AndyGlockner
Luka going for 46-7-14 and it’s not nearly enough. That’s pretty gross.
Jeff Goodman @GoodmanHoops
Donnie Nelson has to get Luka more help.
tim cato @tim_cato
just two of the 10 Mavericks who have played in this game were acquired after January 2019: Boban Marjanovic and Josh Richardson. Dallas hasn’t meaningfully improved the roster around Luka Doncic in 2.5 years.
Dallas needs to find a way to get Doncic a second star. In a loaded Western Conference, Doncic is good enough to get the Mavs into the playoffs. He may even be good enough, as he continues to improve, to win a series or two.
But he won’t win a title by himself. Sunday was another reminder.
What’s Next?
The Clippers travel to Utah to face the Jazz in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET (TNT).