Suns Must Stop Clippers' Kawhi Leonard at all Costs
The Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers are one of the more interesting first-round meetings in the NBA playoffs, for a variety of reasons. The combo offers a strong mix of star power, storylines and overall strong basketball play.
That being said, the Suns are overwhelming favorites to advance to the second round of the postseason thanks to the presence of guys such as Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. The Clippers not having Paul George for the entire series sunk them even further in the minds of NBA analysts and fans.
Yet here we are, nearly a full 24 hours removed from LA's Game 1 win over Phoenix, where the Clippers indeed looked like the stronger team despite being on the road.
For Los Angeles to win the series, Kawhi Leonard will need to be at his very best - which was indeed the case on Monday. His 38 points, five rebounds and five assists paved the way for the Clippers to emerge 1-0 in the series.
“He’s a tough cover, and he could score from all areas," said Kevin Durant on Leonard's performance. "He was making shots there in the second half and made some big threes there in the fourth quarter. Just an all-time player, so we got to continue to be physical and deny his catches and make it as tough as we can on him.”
Leonard indeed hit tough shots, yet it was Phoenix's lack of rebounding and sometimes dysfunction on the defensive side of the ball that afforded Leonard the opportunity for open looks, something a player of his caliber simply shouldn't see.
“I thought we started to give stuff out of timeouts. There were a few times where we didn’t get back in transition, not a ton and then there were a few times where we didn’t even see the guy behind us. Those are plays at halftime, when you look at our defense, it wasn’t bad, it was just miscommunication or we didn’t see a guy behind us and that’s something you can’t have in the playoffs.”
The Suns opted to start Torrey Craig over Josh Okogie, who is arguably the team's top defender. Leonard consistently took advantage of the matchup with Craig, especially down the stretch of the second half when things were tight.
Would things be different with Okogie in the lineup? Craig poured in 22 points of his own, and Okogie isn't exactly known as a certified bucket. Leonard is likely to get his no matter the defender.
Yet something has to change, whether that be placing Okogie on Leonard or simply making minor tweaks to their defensive structure.
The Clippers have talent around Leonard. Russell Westbrook is a coin flip between impactful/ineffective each night while Eric Gordon is still a strong three-point shooter in the starting lineup. Even without George, they're here in the postseason with a 1-0 series lead over the Suns.
Make one of those other players beat you. Limiting Leonard is so easy on paper, and if anybody was actually able to figure out how to shut down one of the best two-way players in the league, they'd be Coach of the Year.
Yet if you can force the ball out of Leonard's hand and force one of his supporting cast members to have spectacular nights for at least three more games, you'll take your chances with that.
If Phoenix wants to make good on their potential, adjustments will need to be made. Quickly.
