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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

Kawhi Leonard
1 kawhi leonard 2019 (cropped).jpg
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Leonard with the Toronto Raptors in 2019
No. 2 – Los Angeles Clippers
Position Small forward
League NBA
Personal information
Born June 29, 1991 (age 29)
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
20112018 San Antonio Spurs
2018–2019 Toronto Raptors
2019–present Los Angeles Clippers
Career highlights and awards
Stats 
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at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

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Kawhi Anthony Leonard (/kəˈw/, 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

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NBA
College
High school

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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).

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

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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.

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?

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.

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).