They all recognize what is at risk and know that having health gives them the best chance to win at a very important time in a cluttered Western Conference.
So, when Leonard played on his first night of back-to-back games this season and over a year with the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, it was clear how important the game was to the Clippers.
When the Clippers coach said, “We’re fighting for our lives,” and then, “Now we need a deck with all our hands,” it was clear they were living up to the sixth seed, an auto playoff spot, and were doing all their strength to avoid the NBA play-in tournament.
The Clippers are Leonard’s big three and are looking for top six spots while they’re past Maverick in Int’s Dome.
For Leonard, who had 29 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes, to reach this point, the team’s medical staff had to approve him to play in consecutive games.
“Everything is going well,” he said. “So we had an argument and we all thought it was a good time to play.
“Like I said, it just listened to their stories, their scenarios, how they calculate things. And I’m not just trying to be a superhero, I’m not just trying to stay healthy, that’s really my primary goal.
Harden scored a double double with 29 points and 14 assists as the Clippers won four straight wins.
Zubac has a career-high 11 consecutive double-double games with 25 points and 10 rebounds, giving 4,238 boards as clippers, pushing the sole owner, fifth-placed on the franchise’s all-time rebound list past Bob McAdoo. Zubac was shooting 11-11 from the field, creating all three free throws.
“These three were really good tonight,” Lu said. “It was pretty impressive just to come out on the second night of back-to-back and get a professional victory to play the way we did.”
Anthony Davis led the Mavericks with 29 points and nine rebounds.
Again, the Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Memphis Grizzlies have the same record 46-32. They all have a half-game behind the fifth Golden State in the West. Minnesota is the sixth seed, with the Clippers in the seventh and the Grizzlies in the eighth based on the tiebreak.
Leonard missed the first 34 games of the season, recovering from an injury to his right knee. He played in his first match on January 4th, but did not play in consecutive contests until Saturday night.
“Like I said, he was trying to play for them, but we were doing the right thing and making sure we were smart about it,” Lu said. “So the time has come.”
Leonard played just 24 minutes against the Mavericks on Friday night, so he was rested well and not putting much stress on his body.
This made it much easier for Leonard to play in his first consecutive game since March 24-25 with the Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers, respectively.
“He’s a bad guy in court on both sides of the floor,” Zubuck said of Leonard. “And it was nice to see him play back to back. It was a long journey for him, but he let his tail go.”
The Clippers are taking two days off before hosting San Antonio on Tuesday night. The Clippers’ final home game will be Wednesday night against the Rockets, another consecutive game set.
“We’ll know when the time comes,” Leonard said of playing on the set of those games. “I’m focusing on this victory tonight, getting treatment and trying to see how it goes for the next few days.”
