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Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers are steadily losing trending in the wrong direction since the 2024 NBA All-Star break. The woes worsened after they blew a 22-point first-quarter lead in a 118-100 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kawhi Leonard's exit before the second quarter proved the turning point.
Leonard had six points in 12 minutes before his exit due to a back injury. The Clippers had no answers defensively against Anthony Edwards, who finished with 37 points and exploited the games with Leonard out. The two-time NBA Finals MVP was their best option against Edwards, so the Clippers battled to limit the latter.
LA maintained an eight-point lead despite the momentum shift before halftime. The Timberwolves went on 8-0 and 10-0 runs to trim the Clippers' advantage to five points, but the home team restored the lead in the final few minutes of the second.
However, the second half was all Timberwolves. Minnesota seemed unplayable once it found the defensive rhythm. Anthony Edwards and Co. won the second half 63-37. They forced the Timberwolves to commit 19 turnovers, scoring 24 points off them.
Meanwhile, Paul George and James Harden struggled heavily on offense, as the former scored 22 points, while the latter only had 12. They seemed too passive, attempting a combined 21 shots.
Clippers fans are disappointed after blowing another lead amid Kawhi Leonard injury
The LA Clippers could have easily had three more wins after the All-Star break. The first was against the Lakers when they led by 21 points in the fourth quarter but succumbed to a masterful fourth quarter from LeBron James in a 116-112 loss on Feb. 28.
LeBron outscored the Clippers 19-16 by himself in the fourth. LA also blew a 13-point lead in a 113-106 loss to the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks on Mar. 4.
Tuesday's loss against the Timberwolves was another instance where the Clippers were primed to win a game but blew a huge lead again. In all three games, second-half and especially fourth-quarter collapses were to blame for their losses.
Kawhi Leonard's injury being the latest setback and cause for a collapse had Clippers fans upset online.
Kawhi Leonard could miss a few days or weeks
Kawhi Leonard exited Tuesday's game with back spasms. According to Clippers coach Ty Lue, Leonard had been dealing with the ailment for the past few days.
"He's been dealing with it for a couple of days," said Lue. "Back spasms. Wasn't sure if he was going to go this morning, came to shoot around."
Lue also said that Kawhi may miss the upcoming road trip to Chicago and New Orleans.
The Clippers have gone 5-6 since the All-Star break, dropping to 41-23 on the season. Russell Westbrook is out, too. Meanwhile, Kawhi has missed one game this season and has been on the Clippers' injury report since Saturday.
