The Brooklyn Nets and Minnesota Timberwolves are advancing as seven seeds, while the Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Pelicans captured eight seeds on the final night of the NBA play-in tournament.
Every first round series is set: Miami Heat vs. Hawks, Boston Celtics vs. Nets, Milwaukee Bucks vs. Chicago Bulls, Philadelphia 76ers vs. Toronto Raptors, Phoenix Suns vs. Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies vs. Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks vs. Utah Jazz.
Can Boston slow down Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving? How will Joel Embiid and James Harden fare in the duo’s first playoff series together? What impact will Luka Doncic’s calf strain have on the Mavericks’ chances? Our panel of NBA experts is picking each first-round series.
Note: Predictions for Heat-Hawks and Suns-Pelicans will be unveiled Sunday.
MORE: What to know for the NBA postseason | Schedules
MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Edwards and Patrick Beverley stood on the Target Center scorer’s table, screaming and celebrating in an ode to an iconic moment in Minnesota Timberwolves franchise history when Kevin Garnett stood on the table and celebrated in the 2004 playoffs.
Not long after jumping off the table, Beverley sat on the Timberwolves bench and began sobbing in an outpouring of emotion. This was deeply personal for Beverley. Not only did the veteran point guard feel the ecstasy of beating his former team, he rejoiced in helping Minnesota clinch the seventh spot in the Western Conference playoffs with a 109-104 come-from-behind play-in win over the LA Clippers on Tuesday night.
Minnesota will play the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of their playoff series on Saturday. It is the first playoff appearance for the Timberwolves since 2018.
“Man, I wanted this one so bad,” said Beverley, who hugged his mother, Lisa, on the court. “This is just the icing on the cake, the cherry on top. Play-in, to be able to beat them … another goal scratched off. I told you we were going to the playoffs. Most of you all, y’all looked at me like I was crazy when I first said that. I f—ing told y’all.”
And he wasted no time in telling his former team — which dealt him away in August — how he felt. The Clippers had sent Beverley to Memphis, with the Grizzlies in turn trading him to Minnesota, which gave him the contract extension he sought in February.
After forcing a late turnover, Beverley celebrated in front of the Clippers bench, letting out a primal scream before pulling and pointing to his Minnesota jersey.
“Take they ass home,” Beverley said of what he told his old teammates at the end. “Long flight to L.A. Take they ass home. It’s deeper than that for me. I gave my blood and sweat and tears to that organization. You guys know the story.
“Blood, sweat and tears, to just be written off like that, ‘He’s injury-prone. He’s old.’ This, this, that, that. To be able to come here and play them in a play-in and beat they ass, no other feeling, man. No other feeling.”
Beverley fulfilled a vow he made when he was introduced to the Minnesota media in September that he would lead the Wolves to the playoffs. On Tuesday night, he helped the franchise secure only its second trip to the postseason since Garnett stood on the same table after leading the Wolves to the Western Conference finals in 2004.
And Beverley did so against his former team. The point guard — who had seven points and 11 rebounds on Tuesday — spent four seasons with the Clippers and helped the team transition from the Chris Paul-Blake Griffin-DeAndre Jordan era to its present squad with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Beverley helped establish the Clippers’ current identity of working hard and their next man up mentality.
In Minneapolis, Beverley’s scrappy hustle, hard-nosed defense and bravado have left a mark on a young and impressionable roster.
“They got guys that are a little bit more confident,” George said after scoring 34 points for the Clippers, who will now face the winner of the San Antonio Spurs-New Orleans Pelicans play-in game for the eighth seed. “His energy and his persona, you know, rubbed off, they made an impact on that roster.
“I know what it was coming into this game. I wasn’t going to allow Pat to do his antics and try to get me flustered. I knew it’s all for show. It’s for the crowd. Gets the crowd involved. I love it. I love it. I miss it. He did it on our side because it’s contagious. I think when he’s in that mode, it ignites the team, ignites the arena. You need energy guys like that.”
Minnesota overcame several challenges to beat the Clippers. LA led by 10 with 8:54 remaining in the game, and Karl-Anthony Towns, frustrated by being in foul trouble the entire game, fouled out with 7:34 left after posting just 11 points.
But Edwards scored nine of his 30 points after that 10-point deficit, and D’Angelo Russell hit a couple of big 3-pointers in the final four minutes before finishing with 29 points to help Minnesota prevail with a 21-5 run.
“I took what the game gave me,” said Edwards, who will play in his first playoff series. “And that is what they gave me.
“They were scared to guard me, and I took advantage of that.”
The Wolves celebrated on their home court like they won a playoff series. And the fans soaked it up. After all, the franchise lost an average of 46 games over the past three seasons.
“I ain’t going to lie, that’s been on my mind since I figured we were playing them,” Edwards said of standing on the table like Garnett. “I’ve been going to sleep [and] saying I’m going to hit the game-winning shot and I’m going to go jump on the table.”
Beverley and the Wolves will next have to face Ja Morant and Memphis. But they were going to savor this playoff berth first.
“I told you, Ant,” Beverley said to Edwards. “They didn’t believe me. We going to the playoffs, baby. They looked at me like I was crazy. They said, ‘Pat, you crazy!'”
The Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers kick things off tonight with the No. 7 vs. No. 8 game in the Eastern Conference play-in, followed by the 7-8 game in the Western Conference between the LA Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves. (Here’s a refresher on how the play-in tournament works.)
Wednesday’s games feature the Atlanta Hawks vs. the Charlotte Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans vs. the San Antonio Spurs in each conference’s 9-10 matchup.
Which playoff hopefuls will advance to the first round?
While four teams await their opponents, four series are set: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Chicago Bulls, Philadelphia 76ers vs. Toronto Raptors, Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks vs. Utah Jazz.
How will Joel Embiid and James Harden fare in the duo’s first series together? What impact will Luka Doncic’s calf strain impact the Mavericks’ chances?
Our panel of NBA experts is picking each play-in tournament game and first-round series.
MORE: The 75 things to know for the NBA postseason | Schedules
While the Los Angeles Lakers are in the middle of a disappointing NBA season, LeBron James continues to be the lone bright spot. James passed Karl Malone on Saturday night, moving into the No. 2 spot on the all-time scoring list. Though James racked up another individual milestone, his team fell to the Eastern Conference’s 11th-ranked Washington Wizards. The Lakers are running out of time to climb the Western Conference standings. At No. 10, they are five games back of the No. 8 LA Clippers and seem destined for the play-in tournament.
Elsewhere in the West, the Golden State Warriors were supposed to be complete again with Draymond Green’s return from a two-month absence, but they lost Stephen Curry for at least two weeks when he sprained a ligament in his foot on Wednesday in a loss to the Boston Celtics. The Phoenix Suns are nine games ahead of the No. 2 Memphis Grizzlies, but the Warriors are trying to stay afloat at No. 3, just two games ahead of the Utah Jazz and a surging Donovan Mitchell.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, meanwhile, are making a late-season push out of the play-in tournament, led by Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns dropped 60 points last week against the San Antonio Spurs — the most in the NBA this season — with 32 coming in the third quarter.
And Kyrie Irving followed in Towns’ footsteps on Tuesday with 60 points of his own, a career high and a franchise record for the Brooklyn Nets. However, the Nets still find themselves headed for the play-in tournament at No. 8 in the East, just one game ahead of the Charlotte Hornets.
Our experts break down where all 30 teams stand as the playoffs loom large.
Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Nick Friedell, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball now and which teams are looking most like title contenders.
Suns coach Monty Williams had high praise for Mikal Bridges on Sunday night, comparing him to former NBA Defensive Player of the Year winners Michael Cooper and Ron Artest for his ability to guard top players on the perimeter and down low.
“He should be Defensive Player of the Year, No. 1,” Williams said. “He doesn’t duck a matchup. He plays every night. He guards everyone. He plays 50 minutes. He still produces on offense. I don’t get into the iron man thing, but he loves to play, he loves to work and he’s a winner.” — Lopez
Miami has won three of its past four and has a showdown with the Sixers on Monday night. Tyler Herro had 26 points in 28 minutes in Saturday’s win as he continues his torrid pace. He is averaging 25.9 points a game over nine contests in March — shooting 51.3% for the month after shooting 52.8% from the field in February. — Friedell
Desmond Bane has bounced back after slumping last month. He is averaging 20.4 points with a 62.5 true shooting percentage in March as compared to 14.7 points with a 48.9 true shooting percentage in February. Bane has emerged as the Grizzlies’ No. 2 scoring threat behind All-Star point guard Ja Morant, who missed a couple of games this past week due to back and knee soreness. — MacMahon
The case for Giannis Antetokounmpo to win his third Most Valuable Player Award is growing. Milwaukee is tied for second in the conference, while Antetokounmpo is a contender for Defensive Player of the Year and competing for the scoring title (29.8 points per game) with Joel Embiid (30.0 PPG) and LeBron James (30.0 PPG). — Collier
5. Boston Celtics 2021-22 record: 44-28 Previous ranking: 7
Boston remains an absolute juggernaut after routing Denver on Sunday night. The Celtics are now 21-4 since Jan. 23, have the league’s best defense by nearly five points per 100 possessions and are outscoring teams by 16 points per 100 possessions over that stretch. — Bontemps
6. Philadelphia 76ers 2021-22 record: 43-27 Previous ranking: 6
It was an up-and-down week for Philly, with wins over Dallas and Cleveland sandwiched between losses to Denver and Toronto. It is a make-or-miss league sometimes, but when Philly is making 3s, they look like world-beaters. When they don’t? Their offense grinds to a halt. — Bontemps
7. Golden State Warriors 2021-22 record: 47-24 Previous ranking: 4
Stephen Curry is out for at least the next two weeks with a foot injury. Draymond Green is just coming back from a disk issue, and Klay Thompson is still trying to find his rhythm after being out 2½ years. James Wiseman is dealing with knee swelling in another setback during his rehab, and his return this season remains unclear. The only good news for the Warriors is that Jordan Poole is in the midst of one of his best stretches of the season; Sunday’s contest marked the ninth time in as many games he has scored at least 20 points. — Friedell
The Mavs ran out of gas at the end of a five-game road trip, suffering double-digit losses in a back-to-back against Philadelphia and Charlotte after winning the first three games. Spencer Dinwiddie hit game-winning 3s in Boston and Brooklyn. He joined Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan as the only players to hit last-minute winners in consecutive games this season. — MacMahon
9. Utah Jazz 2021-22 record: 45-26 Previous ranking: 9
Donovan Mitchell sat out Friday’s rout of the Clippers due to a calf contusion, but he managed to maintain his hot hand. Mitchell scored 37 points in Wednesday’s win over the Bulls and 36 in a victory over the Knicks on Sunday as the Madison Square Garden crowd greeted him with enthusiastic cheers. Mitchell made 16 3s in the two triumphs, the most in a two-game span in Jazz history. — MacMahon
As good as the Nuggets played last month and in early March, they now find themselves tied with Minnesota for No. 7 in the West, set for a play-in game with the Clippers with 10 games remaining. After Sunday’s 20-point loss to Boston, Bones Hyland told reporters that DeMarcus Cousins spoke to the team to let everyone know their play is unacceptable right now. Knowing how the Nuggets have been in the past under Michael Malone, expect them to respond. — Youngmisuk
11. Chicago Bulls 2021-22 record: 41-29 Previous ranking: 10
The good news for the backsliding Bulls — who were winless on a three-game road trip and have lost of eight of their past 10 games — is that more help is on the way. Forward Patrick Williams will return Monday after tearing ligaments in his wrist in the fifth game of the season. He’ll come off the bench, and the Bulls are likely to ease their second-year forward back into action, but Williams’ presence could help lift Chicago’s defense, which has fallen to 20th in the NBA in defensive rating. — Collier
Minnesota is rolling, having won four in a row and 10 of their last 11 games. They are threatening to grab one of the top six seeds in the Western Conference and avoid the play-in tournament. The Timberwolves sit half a game behind the Nuggets for the No.6 seed and 1.5 games behind the Mavericks. They have a pair of crucial games this week against the Mavs in Dallas on Monday and at home on Friday. — Collier
Brooklyn has no idea if or when Ben Simmons is going to play as he continues to rehab his back injury. The Nets have no idea when the New York City vaccination mandate will get rolled back, which would allow Kyrie Irving to play in home games. What they do know is that they have Kevin Durant — and with him on the floor they’ll always have a chance. Durant is averaging 30 points a game since returning from an MCL sprain on March 3. — Friedell
The Cavs are back on an upswing, winners of three of their past four, just in time for LeBron James and the Lakers to come to town on Monday. James’ career average of 29.1 points versus his former franchise is his highest against any team in the league. — McMenamin
15. Toronto Raptors 2021-22 record: 40-31 Previous ranking: 14
Friday’s last-second loss to the Lakers aside, Toronto is back to flying along again, winning six of seven with Fred VanVleet in and out of the lineup and OG Anunoby not playing at all. The Raptors have a team full of long, rangy players led by rookie Scottie Barnes, and they are looking like a tough first-round opponent in the East. — Bontemps
16. Charlotte Hornets 2021-22 record: 36-35 Previous ranking: 18
Charlotte’s season could come down to Gordon Hayward’s availability down the stretch. The forward said last week that he will begin taking contact this week and that his status will be determined from there. Charlotte is 26-22 when Hayward plays and 10-13 when he doesn’t. — Bontemps
17. LA Clippers 2021-22 record: 36-37 Previous ranking: 16
The Clippers are pretty much locked into the eighth spot with the Timberwolves hot on Denver’s tail for the sixth spot and the Lakers continuing to falter beneath the Clippers. But Ty Lue’s team isn’t playing its best right now. In fact, far from it. The Clippers were blown out in Utah and have lost six of their past eight, their only wins coming over the Wizards and Pistons. The good news is the Clippers have the most practice time they’ve had all season, so Lue will try to get them back to playing scrappy ball heading into the play-in. — Youngmisuk
18. Atlanta Hawks 2021-22 record: 35-36 Previous ranking: 17
The Hawks are comfortably in the No. 10 spot in the Eastern Conference play-in race but continue to jockey for position with Brooklyn (two games ahead at No. 8) and Charlotte (one game ahead at No. 9). The Hawks lost to the Hornets last week to tie the season series. To continue to climb, Atlanta will lean on Trae Young, who had his 27th 20-point, 10-assist game Sunday night. That sets a team record for most in a single season, breaking the record he set himself in 2019-20. — Lopez
19. New Orleans Pelicans 2021-22 record: 30-41 Previous ranking: 20
The Pelicans, who slid into the No. 9 spot in the Western Conference standings on Sunday night, are 7-6 since inserting Jaxson Hayes into the starting lineup at power forward. Since Feb. 17, the Pelicans have a +10.2 net rating with Jonas Valanciunas and Hayes on the floor over 216 minutes. In his past five games, Hayes is averaging 15.6 points and seven rebounds per game while shooting 7-of-12 from deep. — Lopez
20. Los Angeles Lakers 2021-22 record: 30-41 Previous ranking: 19
The Lakers followed up perhaps their most inspiring team win in Toronto on Friday — featuring Russell Westbrook’s miracle steal and game-tying 3 sequence forcing overtime, where they pulled away — with the most impressive individual accomplishment by any player on their roster this season on Saturday when LeBron James passed Karl Malone for No. 2 on the all-time scoring list in Washington. But the Wizards got the win and L.A. is currently in the final play-in spot at No. 10 in the West with 11 games left to play. — McMenamin
21. Washington Wizards 2021-22 record: 30-40 Previous ranking: 21
The Wizards’ play-in hopes took a severe blow when they lost six straight games, four coming on a West Coast swing. But the Wizards managed to spoil LeBron James’ milestone night Saturday when he passed Karl Malone on the all-time scoring list, erasing a 16-point deficit to beat the Lakers. While the win ultimately might not matter much, the Wizards got an important glimpse at Kristaps Porzingis’ potential, as he scored 16 of his 27 points in the fourth. He looked like The Unicorn they acquired at the trade deadline. — Youngmisuk
22. New York Knicks 2021-22 record: 30-41 Previous ranking: 22
While New York’s season has gone sideways, at least the play of RJ Barrett over the past couple of months is something to take forward into the offseason. Since Jan. 1, Barrett is averaging nearly 24 points per game and shooting 37.8% from 3-point range. If he can keep that up over a full season next year, the Knicks will be quite pleased. — Bontemps
23. San Antonio Spurs 2021-22 record: 28-44 Previous ranking: 23
Spurs forward Keldon Johnson has been playing the best basketball of his young career since the All-Star break. He has had his first three 30-point games since the Spurs returned to play — 32 points against the Wizards on Feb. 25, 33 points against the Hornets on March 5 and a career-high 34 points last Monday against the Timberwolves. And while he didn’t hit the 30-point plateau Sunday, he did get the game-winning putback to defeat the Warriors. — Lopez
The Blazers’ slide continues, as they lost for the 10th time in 11 games on Sunday to Indiana. Portland’s only win since the All-Star break was over Washington, but at least the Blazers are getting a good look at what Josh Hart can do. Hart is averaging 28.6 points in his past five games. — Youngmisuk
The news that T.J. Warren will officially miss the rest of the 2021-22 season marked a disappointing end to another injury-riddled season. Following a breakout performance in the bubble in 2020, Warren was limited to four games in the 2020-21 season with stress fractures in his left foot. He has not played since Dec. 29, 2020. He will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. — Collier
Kings rookie Davion Mitchell had himself a game in Sunday’s 127-124 overtime loss to Phoenix. With De’Aaron Fox sidelined by a hand injury, Mitchell — known for his defense — went off offensively, notching career highs in both points (28) and assists (nine), and giving the Suns all they could handle. — McMenamin
27. Detroit Pistons 2021-22 record: 19-52 Previous ranking: 27
In 12 games since joining the Pistons, Marvin Bagley III is averaging 13.6 points and 6.9 rebounds on 53% shooting. He’s playing around the rim more frequently and made a few spot starts for Detroit last week with Jerami Grant out of the lineup. — Collier
28. Oklahoma City Thunder 2021-22 record: 20-51 Previous ranking: 28
Power forward Darius Bazley has shown intriguing signs of development as a scorer recently. Bazley has averaged 21.0 points on 53.5% shooting over the last six games, including a career-high 29-point night and a pair of 25-point performances. Bazley, 21, a long-armed, explosive player with versatile defensive potential, is eligible for an extension of his rookie contract this summer. — MacMahon
Wendell Carter Jr. had another big game in Sunday’s win over the Thunder, racking up 30 points and 16 rebounds. Over the last two months, he is averaging over 18 points and 11 rebounds a game. Jonathan Isaac, meanwhile, has been ruled out for the season as he continues to rehab a knee injury. He hasn’t played since August 2020. — Friedell
Houston has won only two of its past 20 games, giving the Rockets the league’s worst record, which would guarantee a top-five pick. The growth of Jalen Green, the No. 2 overall pick in last summer’s draft, has been a silver lining, as he has averaged 18.2 points on .472/.375/.732 shooting splits during that span. But the Rockets’ defense (NBA-worst 116.5 points allowed per 100 possessions) is awful, even by tanking standards. — MacMahon
Trailing by 35 points shortly before the half, LA Clippers point guard Reggie Jackson joked that the Clips were “right where we want to be” against the Washington Wizards.
Still, the Clippers could hardly believe what they had done when the buzzer sounded. Despite playing without the injured Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, LA tied the second-largest NBA comeback in the play-by-play era (since 1996-97) and stunned the Wizards 116-115 on Tuesday at Capital One Arena.
The Clippers trailed 66-31 with 1 minute, 20 seconds left in the first half. Their 35-point comeback tied the Sacramento Kings’ win over the Chicago Bulls in 2009, and it is second only to the Utah Jazz overcoming a 36-point deficit against the Denver Nuggets in 1996.
The Clippers, though, are starting to become accustomed to improbable comebacks. They are the first team in the past 25 seasons to have erased a deficit of 24 or more points and win three times in a season. And they’ve managed to do so all in the month of January, with comeback victories over the Nuggets, the Philadelphia 76ers and now the Wizards.
“Why do we keep doing that to ourselves?” Clippers guard Luke Kennard said after the win. “I don’t know. I don’t want to do it anymore, though.
“Man, that was crazy.”
Down 66-36 at halftime, Clippers coach Ty Lue opened the third quarter with several of his starters on the bench. Lue didn’t play starters Jackson, Nicolas Batum and Ivica Zubac in the second half, opting to go with guys such as Amir Coffey (29 points), Kennard (25 points) and Terance Mann (16 points).
The Clippers (24-25) kept telling themselves they could come back, having erased a 25-point deficit to beat the Nuggets 87-85 on Jan. 11 and a 24-point deficit to shock their old coach, Doc Rivers, and the Sixers in Philadelphia 102-101 on Friday.
Once they cut Tuesday’s deficit down to 17 by the end of the third quarter, the Clippers began to really believe.
“It’s crazy,” said Lue, who was without his two stars, Leonard (right ACL rehab) and George (right elbow ligament tear), and starter Marcus Morris Sr. (personal reasons). “Because when I looked at the score [at one point] in the first half, I thought we were down 19. And I looked again, I said, ‘We’re down 29!’ I said, ‘Oh s—!’ It happened so quick.
“We kept chipping away. I know when it was like 17 going into the fourth, and I think when we got to 10, I was like, OK, we got a real shot.”
From the point when they were down 35, the Clippers used an improbable 72-39 run to get within 105-103 with 2:46 remaining. But then it appeared they ran out of gas.
Former Clipper and 2019-20 Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell delivered an impressive chase-down block on a Coffey fast-break layup, and Bradley Beal (23 points) hit a 3 on the other end. Washington would push the lead back up to eight with 36.8 seconds left.
The Wizards led by seven with under 20 seconds left, but Coffey drove in for a dunk. After Kyle Kuzma made one of two free throws, Kennard buried a 32-foot 3-pointer from near the logo with nine seconds left to cut the lead to 115-112.
Washington couldn’t inbound the ball and had a costly 5-second violation. Kennard then hit a 27-foot 3 while being fouled by Beal with 1.9 seconds to go. The Clippers guard converted the four-point play to become the only player in the past 25 seasons with a game-winning four-point play in the final five seconds of a game, according to data from ESPN Stats & Information. It was the Clippers’ first and only lead of the game.
Even 13-year veteran Batum had both of his hands on his head in disbelief on the sideline.
Wizards players appeared shocked.
Entering Tuesday, teams were 1-16,239 over the past 20 seasons when trailing by seven or more points with under 20 seconds remaining in regulation, according to ESPN Stats & Info research.
“I have no words,” Beal said after the game. “Besides ’embarrassing.'”
“I was frustrated when I had to go back in,” Beal added. “This should have been a game where the starters get their rest. Plain and simple.”
Washington (23-25) lost for the fourth straight time, but this certainly was the hardest defeat of the season to swallow.
Kennard scored seven points in the last nine seconds, setting off a Clippers celebration that ended with Lue drenched in cold water in the visitors locker room.
“Probably the craziest game I’ve ever been a part of,” Coffey said. “January been wild. You never know when the game is over. Play through the buzzer.
Chris Paul is at a crossroads. Sixteen years into his remarkable NBA career, the Phoenix Suns’ star guard is simultaneously the closest he has ever been to a title but also now one loss away from what could be considered his most bitter postseason disappointment.
By any measure, Paul is one of the best point guards to ever play the sport, and he’s arguably the greatest passer of his era. But his passing has come up short at the most critical time. He’s averaging 8.8 assists per game in the NBA Finals, barely lower than his average of 8.9 during the regular season, but his turnovers have skyrocketed from 2.2 to 3.6. In the two games in Milwaukee, Paul had nine turnovers against 16 assists. A large portion of that is due to the defense of Jrue Holiday and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Still, if Paul wants to force a Game 7 back home at Phoenix and give himself a chance to win his first career NBA championship, he’ll need to perform like the player who has a well-deserved reputation as the grand master of the NBA chessboard. He’s a player who has seen every defensive coverage and figured out how to beat them all. Paul is capable of using his dribble to snake through the scoring area and manipulate the arrangement of defenders before consistently making the right play for his team.
Throughout this season, Paul has conducted the Suns’ offense with near-perfect precision, getting everyone involved on a nightly basis. He’s the passer on the team’s top four assister-scorer duos, and it doesn’t matter if Paul is setting up a star or a role player; he gets them all buckets easily — just not easily enough in a series the Suns trail 3-2, which has them facing elimination Tuesday night in Milwaukee (9 p.m. ET on ABC and the ESPN App).
On Tuesday, almost a month after Kawhi Leonard suffered a right ACL injury late in the LA Clippers’ Game 4 win over the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference semifinals, his team announced that he had undergone surgery for a partial tear of the ligament.
Given the timing of the surgery, with barely more than three months before the start of the 2021-22 campaign, it’s likely the injury will affect Leonard’s availability at the start of next season. He also can hit unrestricted free agency this summer while rehabbing, if he declines a 2021-22 player option.
As a result, Leonard’s return to the team that announced his surgery is no sure thing. Still, let’s take a look at the impact for him and the Clippers.
LOS ANGELES — Not long after Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns celebrated their Western Conference championship on the Staples Center floor, Paul George wondered “what if” Kawhi Leonard had been healthy.
The LA Clippers ran out of gas and comebacks as their resilient playoff run came to an end with a 130-103 loss to the Suns in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals.
After the game, George allowed himself to think about the possibilities had Leonard not sprained his right knee in Game 4 in the previous round against the Utah Jazz.
“We’d be going on,” George said when asked what would have happened had Leonard played in the conference finals. “This series would be a lot different. Talk about one of the best players in the league being out, yet we were inches away from getting to the next round.
“So definitely it’s a ‘what if’ on this. Fact of the matter is we didn’t do enough to win, and that’s the reason we’re going home.”
The Clippers, the only team to overcome a 2-0 deficit twice in the same postseason, could not force a Game 7. Injuries and tired legs caught up to them. Besides Leonard missing the final eight games with his knee injury, the Clippers were without centers Ivica Zubac (sprained right MCL) and Serge Ibaka (back surgery).
And they were playing their 15th game in 29 days, as all three of their rounds went six games or more.
Still, Clippers coach Ty Lue said players were stunned once the realization set in the locker room that the season was finally over only two wins away from the NBA Finals.
“It is a shock,” Lue said. “I think it’s a shock to a lot of guys in that locker room. It just tells you a lot about the team. Like no matter who is playing, we still feel like every night we have a chance to win no matter who is on the floor. I thought we ran out of gas and first thing goes when you get tired and fatigued is mentally. That first half, we made a lot of mistakes defensively, a lot of mistakes coming out of time-outs or just play calls in general, just not there mentally.”
The Clippers had their share of defensive breakdowns and Paul made his old team pay for each of them. Paul delivered a masterful second-half performance that was classic CP3, complete with all the things that makes him such a pain for opponents. He buried 12-of-16 shots, including all five of his 3-point attempts, and scored 31 of his 41 points in the second half.
After he drilled a 3-pointer to push the Suns’ lead to 118-92 with 5:49 left, the Clippers called for timeout. As Paul walked back to the Suns bench, a frustrated Patrick Beverley shoved the Suns point guard in the back and was ejected.
Knowing that he had gotten under the Clippers’ skin, Paul would celebrate moments later by pumping both of his fists in the air.
All George and Leonard could do was watch from the bench; he was terrific this postseason, especially once Leonard went down. The Suns sent some double teams at George, who finished with 21 points and nine rebounds. Still, George answered even his harshest critics with his finest postseason, lifting the Clippers to their first-ever Western Conference Finals.
“Nothing that I didn’t know already,” George said of what he learned from his postseason. “The narrative of me not being postseason player or all that, I never understood it.”
“[But] I came up short again,” George later added. “I’m proud of what we did as a team. I wasn’t out to prove nothing to nobody but to show up as a leader for this team and to put us in position to get to where we got to. Again, came up short. My good wasn’t enough. There’s room for improvement… I’ll look back. I’ll reflect.”
Moving forward, the Clippers will see what Leonard will do with his player option for the 2021-22 season.
There is also the future of point guard Reggie Jackson, who emerged this season as a clutch scorer for the Clippers in the postseason. The Clippers have early Bird rights on Jackson. George, though, says his good friend likely has played himself into having plenty of options for his future.
An emotional Jackson, who has revived his career here, had tears rolling down his face when asked about his future with the Clippers.
“This year was my best year,” said Jackson, who averaged 18.1 points and 41.5% 3-point shooting in the postseason entering Game 6. “… First thing I told these guys was thank you for saving me. I appreciate every guy in that locker room, I appreciate Paul for getting on that phone last year, at the end the season — was talking a buyout with Detroit.
“I’m thankful for everything I’ve experienced being here, this city making me feel at home. This organization welcoming me, my quirks, my strengths, my weaknesses, I wonder if I would still be playing without this team.”
George says the Clippers have all the pieces to make another title run next season if they are healthy. After melting down and blowing a 3-1 lead in the bubble in the second round last year, the Clippers’ resiliency this postseason put all the “bubble talk” behind them as Lue said.
And George and Leonard saw what they are capable of doing when healthy.
“We’ve made great connections,” George said. “I think we’ve both grown, myself and Kawhi together. I think we really enjoy being teammates, and we see what we can be and with a we can do.”
George later added about the team’s injuries: “I thought this team squeezed everything we could out of what we had. We squeezed everything out of one another, and I thought we got stronger and better as the season went on.”
After the LA Clippers failed to respond and were routed by a more aggressive and hungrier New Orleans Pelicans squad on Sunday night, Kawhi Leonard said his team’s lack of consistency is “very concerning.”
The Clippers never led and trailed by 33 points before falling 135-115 to the up-and-down Pelicans in New Orleans. While the Clippers were without Patrick Beverley (knee) and lost a second starter in Serge Ibaka for the second half due to lower back tightness, Leonard has not liked what he has seen.
The Clippers, a team expected to contend for a championship, have lost five of their past seven games. After starting the season 21-8, the Clippers are just 4-7 since.
“It’s very concerning,” Leonard said when asked what his level of concern is at over the slippage. “[If] we want to have a chance at anything, you gotta be consistent. You know, that’s what the great teams do, they’re consistent. They have their nights when, you know, the energy’s not there. But it’s all about consistency, from teams to players to coaches. That’s what makes a team great, players great, coaches great. A consistency of being, wanting to win, and doing pretty much the same habits of winning.”
Clippers coach Ty Lue was as angry as he has been this season following a loss. The Clippers (25-15) allowed New Orleans (17-22) to score 36 points and shoot 14-for-21 in the first quarter to fall behind by 12. Lonzo Ball, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram combined to outscore the entire Clippers team 25-24 in the first quarter.
“Teams are going at us, and we got to put up more resistance,” Lue said. “I am not discouraged, because we have shown what we can do, and we can play at a high level. But we got to do it every single night. We can’t keep talking about it. We got to f—ing … sorry, we got to do it.”
The only other time the even-keeled Lue was this frustrated after a loss was when the Clippers were drilled by a more physical and aggressive Grizzlies team in Memphis during a 122-94 defeat on Feb. 25. That loss not only marked the start of this current stretch of poor play, but the Clippers opened that game and this latest loss in New Orleans in similar fashion.
“That’s exactly what it felt like,” Lue said of the defeat at Memphis. “That’s what our coaching staff was talking about. They were more physical than us, they were tougher than us, and you saw the results. We just gotta be better.
“We gotta be more physical, gotta have defensive mindset at the start of every game, I don’t give a hell, I don’t care who you playing.”
After that 28-point loss to the Grizzlies, the Clippers bounced back and beat Memphis by 20 the next game. But the Clippers followed that with three straight losses entering the All-Star break.
The Clippers appeared to get back on track by blowing out the Golden State Warriors 130-104 at home on Thursday. But then came Sunday night’s dismal effort without Beverley, who often gives the Clippers an attitude and energy.
“If [Beverley is] here or not … everybody has to do it,” Leonard said of bringing the energy. “Can’t rely on one person.”
The Clippers will play Monday against Luka Doncic and the Mavericks in Dallas for the first time since the Mavs destroyed them 124-73 in Los Angeles during the third game of the season.
“If we play like this again tomorrow, it can be another 50-point loss,” a frustrated Lue said. “So we got to be ready, got to be prepared. And we got to have our stuff together, man.”
LOS ANGELES — The LA Clippers had Kawhi Leonard and Paul George back in the lineup on Friday, and the timing could not have been any better.
The surging Utah Jazz, winners of 20 of their previous 21 games, including an 18-point win over the Clippers on Wednesday, were back in Staples Center for a second straight game. And the Clippers wanted to show where they stood against the top team in the West standings.
Leonard scored 29 points and came up with two big offensive rebounds in the final minute to help the Clippers hold off the Jazz, 116-112, and snap Utah’s nine-game winning streak.
“They are the best team in the NBA right now record-wise,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said. “We knew that they won 20 of 21 coming into tonight. We got our guys back, and we wanted to win this game.”
The Clippers (22-9) had their two stars back on the court after George missed the previous seven games because of a swollen right toe and Leonard sat out the previous three because of a lower left leg contusion. The Clippers’ starting lineup was whole again with forward Nicolas Batum also returning after missing the previous two games because of a concussion.
“I’m just happy I was able to get out and play today,” said Leonard, who wore a sleeve on his lower left leg. “We were able to be healthy and get our starting five out there, and that’s what it’s about. We want to get better. We haven’t got a chance to really play with a full, healthy roster the last two weeks or so. So hopefully we can have some blessings and be able to stay healthy to finish till the All-Star [break] is started.”
The Jazz (24-6) also had guard Mike Conley (right hamstring) back in the lineup for this showdown between two of the West’s best teams. Conley scored 16 points, but it was Donovan Mitchell who nearly kept the Jazz’s streak alive. Mitchell scored 35 points, with 29 coming in the second half. The guard scored 12 points in the final 1:23 when he helped Utah slice a late 13-point deficit down to two with 13 seconds remaining.
Jazz center Rudy Gobert said the game “felt like a playoff game — the intensity, the tough shots that they were making all night.”
For Utah, this was a rare tight game. During their 20-1 stretch, the Jazz had logged just seven minutes in clutch time, when the score is within five points in the final five minutes. That is the fewest in the NBA over that span.
“There’s so many different things that we’ve seen throughout this stretch,” Mitchell said. “We’re not here to be satisfied with what happens today, tomorrow. We’re getting ready for the long haul — second half of the season and the playoffs. We’ve got to continue to be this team and not just be this team in the first half of the season.”
Like the Jazz, who blew a 3-1 series lead to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs last season, the Clippers also are striving to be better than they were in the previous postseason. They blew a 3-1 series lead to the Nuggets in the second round.
The Clippers will need a healthy Leonard and George to go further this season. George said that he had been playing with a sore toe and was able to manage it with a day off in between games until playing in a back-to-back games against Brooklyn and Cleveland. George then experienced swelling and had to be shut down until the swelling and pain subsided.
“We played Brooklyn and then Cleveland, two tough games that really caused me to have to dig down and push, plant and play off those toes,” said George, who had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists in 27 minutes. “Just that back to back kind of tipped me overboard and I couldn’t recover, I needed some time off because it was swelled up. i just tried to keep it rolling for the team, and it wound up creeping up on me.”
“I feel good,” George added of how his toe felt coming out of the game. “Just getting back into the swing of things.”
The same could be said for the Clippers, who were glad to have their stars back healthy against the red-hot Jazz.
“We’re basketball fans at the end of the day, and, of course, you see the noise being made throughout the season,” Clippers guard Patrick Beverley said of the Jazz’s 20-1 stretch. “We actually wanted the one that we gave up, we kind of ran out of gas toward the end [on Wednesday]. You gotta give credit to Utah. They got a hell of a system, hella players, the coaches.
“It was a hard game, and that’s the type of game you want in the NBA, and we’re fortunate to get a win for sure.”
