Better late than never. It is the phrase that we could use to talk about Kawhi Leonard, although it is never good to trust the star. Two times MVP of the Finals, two times Best Defender and with the memory of the hero’s cape that he donned to lead the Raptors to the conquest of the ring in 2019Kawhi has spent the last few years behind the scenes, with many physical problems, a huge amount of uncertainty generated by himself and his environment and a capacity to be short on words that has caused him to be quite an enigma. He spends a lot of time without playing, but he doesn’t explain why; and when he’s been on the track, he hasn’t stood out especially… until now. Yes indeed, Will it be a definitive return or will it return to the maelstrom of irregularity and little constancy that it has displayed in recent times? That is the question.
At the moment, the star is behaving as such and begins to carburize, in a tempo very close to the Clippers themselves, one of those teams that had ring chances in betting but they do not finish carbureting and in the fourth year of Kawhi and Paul George in the franchise it is already too long a wait Nobody knows if it will end. At the moment, Kawhi is transmitting good feelings, now in a more regular and constant way: 4 consecutive games played for the first time in the whole season (it seems incredible) and more than 20 points in each and every one of them. Against the Rockets they were 30 with 12 of 24 in field goals and 3 of 5 in triplesa magnificent performance with which he seems to become more and more like the player he was in his day.
The Clippers have beaten the Rockets, clearly in another League and another fight that looks much more to the future than to the present. The best of the match, however, was not Kawhi, but a Terance Mann who reached 31 points and added 6 rebounds and 4 assists (identical stats to Kawhi’s in that respect). The Rockets, driven by Eric Gordon’s 24 points and Kenyon Martin’s 22, with 9 rebounds, were down just 1 in the last period (91-90), but an incontestable 30-10 run sealed the battle and included the balance on the side of the angels. An iron defense and a great use of the opponent’s failures allowed the Clippers to have a placid end and made it impossible for the Rockets to give the crushaway from home and against one of the teams theoretically a candidate for the ring, no matter how much there are phases of the season in which they themselves have insisted on proving otherwise.
Now, it’s time to wait: Kawhi has scored 29, 33, 24 and 30 points in the last four games, already averaging around 19 so far this season and, above all, and despite the occasional statement in which he continues to be very much against so much of the regular season, he is having a continuity that, if it ends up being like that, could be fantastic for the Clippers. The Rockets, in their particular fight, will try to continue improving and had 14 minutes from Usman Garuba, but with little production (0 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists). The Clippers are positive (23-22) and continue in the middle zone of the Western Conference, in positions of play-in, without shining especially and in no man’s land. Much further back than initially expected. But they have Kawhi back. And with him, everything is possible. be careful with that.