Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver.
“It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.”
Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip.
Photo: Isaiah J. Downing / Imagn Images
“I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.”
The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series from the Nuggets.
“This is what Kawhi lives for, getting healthy for the playoffs,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “We know if we’ve got a healthy Kawhi, we can win any series.”
Photo: Brad Penner / Imagn Images
After appearing in just two playoff games over the past two years, the 33-year-old two-time Finals Most Valuable Player is healthy and looking like his old self after he missed the first 34 games of the season because of lingering issues with his surgically repaired knees.
“I’m just happy I’m able to move, you know, coming out of the game feeling well,” Leonard said. “I sat and watched these playoff games the last two years, so yeah, to be frontline out there, it feels good.”
Christian Braun was long on a three-pointer with 6 seconds left, and Nikola Jokic, who recorded his 19th career playoff triple-double, grabbed the rebound, but also missed a three, with 1 second remaining.
Photo: Brad Penner / Imagn Images
The series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 tomorrow.
The Clippers, who lost Game 1 in overtime, have not lost back-to-back games since March 2 and 4, a stretch of 23 games, and they handed David Adelman his first loss in five games since replacing Michael Malone in a stunning move on the eve of the playoffs.
Jokic, just the third player to average a triple-double over a season, had 26 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, while Jamal Murray added 23 points for the Nuggets, who also got a bounce-back game from Michael Porter Jr with 15 points and 15 rebounds after his three-point performance in Game 1.
Photo: Isaiah J. Downing / Imagn Images
It was not enough against Leonard, who had 21 points at the break, including a pull-up three-pointer at the halftime buzzer that broke a 52-all tie.
“To his credit, he was awesome tonight,” Adelman said.
In Los Angeles, the Detroit Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak with a 100-94 victory over the New York Knicks to level their Eastern Conference first-round series at 1-1.
Cade Cunningham scored 33 points with 12 rebounds, while Dennis Schroder added 20 points off the bench — including a go-ahead three-pointer with 55.7 seconds left — as the Pistons thwarted another Knicks’ rally bid.
In the post-season for the first time since 2019, the Pistons notched their first playoff victory since Game 4 of the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics.
Two days after the Knicks authored a 21-0 scoring run to rally in Game 1, the Pistons were pushed to the finish in a fast-paced, physical encounter at Madison Square Garden.
They led by as many as 15 in the third quarter, but the Knicks had cut the deficit to eight going into the final period.
New York star Jalen Brunson scored 14 of his 37 points in the fourth and fed Josh Hart for a dunk that tied it at 94-94 with 1 minute, 15 seconds to play, but Schroder answered immediately, drilling a three-pointer that put the Pistons ahead for good.
“Feels good to represent the city like we did tonight,” Cunningham said. “It’s something that the city’s been waiting on a long time, so we feel good about it and we’re ready to get back to the crib and perform in front of them.”
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