LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard was completely shut down by Draymond Green in the fourth quarter of his team’s 126-121 loss to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA play-in tournament on Wednesday night.
Per Genius IQ, via ESPN, Green defended Leonard for 12 half-court possessions in the fourth quarter, and “The Klaw” couldn’t get one shot up. Leonard had two points in the final 12 minutes as the Warriors outscored the Clippers, 43-32, en route to the win.
After the game, Leonard had profound praise for Green.
“Draymond, Hall of Fame defender,” Leonard said.
“It was hard to even get shots up.”
Warriors Praise Kawhi Leonard
Draymond Green and Stephen Curry returned the favor by praising Leonard.
“It’s an honor to play against a great all-time great like Kawhi Leonard. He’s a special, special player and he’s a worker,” Green said after the game.
“I got the utmost respect for Kawhi Leonard. I appreciate playing against the all-time greats and Kawhi Leonard is one of the greatest our league has seen.”
Curry explained why Green had his task cut out against Leonard all night.
“It’s not a fun job [to guard Kawhi Leonard],” Curry said after the game.
“Defensively, you’re at the mercy of somebody like a Kawhi Leonard, who is gonna make you work hard all night. Draymond feeds off of those battles.”
Prior to the game, Curry said Leonard “always brings the best” out of him.
Warriors Trade Target: Kawhi Leonard
X account TheWarriorsTalk believes the back-and-forth praise between Kawhi and the Warriors may lead to something significant this summer.
Listening to these post game pressers, you get a sense that Kawhi to the Warriors in the offseason has some legs 👀
-Kawhi with high praise for Steph/Dray.
-Steph/Dray with high praise for Kawhi.
As is widely documented, the Warriors made an aggressive play for Kawhi Leonard at this year’s NBA trade deadline after talks for Giannis Antetokounmpo fell through. Per multiple insiders, the Warriors will revisit those talks with the Clippers this offseason.
“…Multiple league sources indicated this week that the Warriors were reasonably close to trading for Kawhi Leonard last February — apparently with much of the deal terms generally agreed to — before the Clippers ultimately decided to pull out of the talks,” Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard reported earlier this month.
“…Leonard’s name continues to be connected to possible Warriors moves — either in continuing trade talks or, as many around the league are speculating, if Leonard’s remaining contract with the Clippers is voided after the investigation into salary-cap circumvention.”
According to The Athletic’s Law Murray, only head coach Ty Lue and former All-Star guard Darius Garland are expected to remain with the Clippers as the franchise prepares to hit the reset button and turn over a new leaf.
The Warriors will face the Phoenix Suns in the final play-in game on Friday night. The winner will go on to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.
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