Kawhi Leonard's Honest Statement After Losing to OKC Thunder

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The LA Clippers fell to the OKC Thunder on Thursday night, officially losing the season series vs. their Western Conference rivals. The Clippers also trail the season series vs. both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets, making their path to the first seed a lot more difficult.
When asked after the game about seeding, and more specifically the tiebreaker vs. OKC, Clippers star Kawhi Leonard said, "We want to make sure that we are for sure top-six and that we're trying to do the best we can every night. No matter if we're the number one seed or the six seed, we got to get better. That's the goal. That's the agenda."
On losing the tiebreaker to OKC, Kawhi Leonard said, "We want to make sure that we are for sure top six and that we're trying to do the best we can every night. No matter if we're the number one seed or the six seed, we got to get better. That's the goal. That's the agenda."
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) February 23, 2024
While the Clippers are still focused on securing the highest seed possible, they also understand that getting better is the primary focus. Doing that while winning games is the goal, as has been stated all year, but the Clippers also understand there are ways to improve even amid disappointing showings like this one in OKC.
The Western Conference standings are very hard to predict, as the top-four have been shifting almost daily, and teams like the New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks continue to surge. This is why regardless of seeding, the Clippers want to be playing their best possible basketball when entering their first postseason matchup.
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Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.
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