Leonard Must Stick to Aggressive Style for Clippers to Succeed
Throughout most of the LA Clippers’ playoff matchup with the Denver Nuggets—a series as unpredictable as a coin flip—Kawhi Leonard has adopted a clear focus: score and defend.
While he has also contributed by rebounding and moving the ball, Leonard’s main priority has been disrupting Denver’s game plan, leaving their coaching staff scrambling for answers. That strategy worked—until Game 5.
In that game, Denver found success by repeatedly double-teaming Leonard, especially through Aaron Gordon. This forced Leonard into taking more jump shots than usual. When those shots didn’t fall, Leonard shifted his offensive strategy under head coach Tyronn Lue’s direction, resembling James Harden’s playstyle instead—focused on distribution and overall stat production.
Though Leonard nearly recorded a triple-double (20 points, 11 assists, 9 rebounds, 1 turnover), the adjustment backfired. The Clippers lost by 16 points—their worst defeat of the postseason—and never led at any point in the game.
Leonard’s near triple-double highlighted his versatility, but it’s not the version of him the Clippers need right now. With Harden failing to step up and Denver thriving without a dominant performance from Nikola Jokic, the pressure is squarely on Leonard to return to the aggressive, attacking form he showed in Game 2.
If he doesn’t, and instead continues to play passively in tonight’s must-win game, the Clippers’ season will likely end—and so might the current roster, with big changes looming in the offseason.
