The Return of the Playoff Assassin

Daniel Waddleton

Apr 22, 2025

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IT HAD BEEN a year since the game, yet former Dallas Maverick J.J. Redick remembered the moment like it was yesterday.

Calling Game 6 between the Mavericks and Suns during the 2022 playoffs, Redick was reflecting on Luka Doncic’s postseason rise -- the brilliance, the battles, the defining moments that have shaped his young playoff legacy. Yet, one memory stood above the rest, and it didn’t belong to Luka.

“We were up 3–2 and had Game 6 here,” Redick said on the broadcast, referencing the 2021 first-round series against the Clippers. “And Kawhi Leonard had one of the greatest individual games I’ve ever witnessed.”

Redick didn’t play in the contest, but from the Mavericks’ bench, he had the best seat in the house as Kawhi delivered a 45-point, two-way masterpiece. A performance that saved the Clippers’ season and stunned a Dallas team on the brink of advancing. It was Kawhi at his absolute peak: elite shot-making on one end, suffocating defense on the other. The Clippers would go on to win Game 7, handing Luka his final first-round exit to date.

Near the end of that Game 6, NBA writer Zach Lowe summed it up on Twitter:

A bold statement. But nobody blinked.

That's because this is what Kawhi does in the playoffs. It didn’t feel like an outlier, it felt inevitable. By then, Leonard was already a two-time Finals MVP, most recently in 2019, when he took a one-year detour to Toronto and led the Raptors to their first ever NBA title. That run? 30.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists over 24 games on 61.9% true shooting. That was the standard.

So when Kawhi dropped 45 while locking up a generational scorer in Luka on the other end, the world didn’t gasp. It nodded.

Following that series, many expected the Clippers to make a run to the Finals. Kawhi looked every bit the part of a potential three-time Finals MVP. Then, just as quickly as he reminded the world who he was once again, the game reminded him how fragile greatness can be.

Leonard tore his ACL in the very next round against Utah. It ended his playoff run, and it kept him out for the entirety of the 2021–22 season. He returned the following year and opened the 2023 playoffs with two good games, only to be shut down again, this time with a torn meniscus.

He played 68 games the next regular season -- his most since 2016–17 -- but a late-season knee flare-up robbed him of another playoff opportunity. He appeared in just one game against Dallas and looked far from himself.

Many wondered if we had already seen the last of vintage, healthy Kawhi. If we’d taken his greatness for granted because it was so methodical, so consistent. Maybe Game 6 in Dallas was the final act, without us ever knowing.

That’s what made last night's game not just feel like another great Kawhi playoff performance. For the first time, it felt like a moment.

Leonard poured in 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting in the Game 2 win against the Nuggets. A surgical display of shot-making, described no better than by Andy Bailey on Twitter.

Yet, it wasn’t just the offense. Like always with Kawhi when he’s healthy, it was his ability to dominate both ends of the floor consistently. According to NBA.com’s matchup data, the Nuggets have shot a combined 4-for-21 in the series when guarded by Leonard. For reference, when Kawhi himself shoots, he's 24-for-34.

What was even more encouraging than the numbers? How Leonard felt afterward.

“I”m just happy that I’m able to move and I’m coming out the game feeling well and that’s what I’m taking my pride in is just being healthy,” Kawhi said in the postgame presser. “I sat and watched these playoff games and series the past few years. So, being able to be frontline out there, it just feels good to me no matter which way the game goes. That’s what I’m taking pride in. I just want to be out there and play and be frontline with my team.”

Statistically, this kind of night is just another night at the office. Since his final playoff run with the Spurs, Leonard has averaged 29.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.9 steals across 66 playoff games on 63.6% true shooting. Monday marked the ninth time he’s posted 30+ points on over 80% true shooting -- the most in NBA playoff history.

Yet the numbers just hit different this time, when you realize how unlikely this comeback appeared to be. How close we might've been to never seeing this version of him again on a big stage.

Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue had an awesome quote following the 105-102 victory.

“Every time someone gives up on him, he comes back,” coach Lue said. “He’s a hard worker. He’s dedicated to keeping his body right and sometimes some unfortunate things happen. But you can’t control that. But it’s not a lack of work. It’s not from a lack of wanting to be here and just sometimes some bad luck hits. But he’s going to keep coming back and he’s going to get to this point where he is right now and that’s why I’m so happy for him.”

James Harden also weighed in on Kawhi’s resurgence. Not just the performance, but the grind behind it.

“Every. Single. Day. Like, it’s the preparation, it’s the treatment. It’s the strengthening of his body. It’s the correctives. And then it’s like going on court and putting it all together and it’s consistent. Every. Single. Day." Harden said. "Luck hasn’t been on his side or whatever the case you might call it. But he loves to hoop. And as you see, when he’s on the court, he’s a killer. Kawhi is just special.”

Now, with the series tied 1–1, the Clippers head back to L.A. to host their first playoff game at the new Intuit Dome. If they can get past Denver, they’ll face top-seeded Oklahoma City.

If Kawhi’s body can finally hold up -- if luck finally turns his way -- the Clippers might not just have a puncher’s chance.

They might have Kawhi Leonard. And that changes everything.