One night, 45 points, and a record nobody had ever reached: vintage Kawhi for Clippers

The Clippers hosted the Timberwolves in a game defined by urgency. It was that kind of night for both teams, who had reached the final stretch of the season with plenty still to settle, even if one side had more at stake than the other. At least within certain contexts: Los Angeles had opened the season with a 6-21 record and entered this one back at .500, while Minnesota still had bigger ambitions after reaching two straight Conference finals – only to lose both series 4-1, to the Mavericks and Thunder respectively. To make another deep run, though, the Wolves needed the best playoff seed they could get. Just as importantly, they had to avoid slipping into the play-in spot held by the ever-threatening Suns, which would have forced them through that sort of preliminary round the NBA, with Adam Silver at the helm, came up with during the coronavirus pandemic. And that, of course, was here to stay.

It was a high-voltage game, but also one full of contrasts. The most recent meeting had not come long before, on February 26, when the Wolves beat their opponents in Los Angeles, 94-88. The setting this time was the same, with the Intuit Dome once again playing host, but the wolf’s howl had softened slightly: after a five-game winning streak that had lifted them to third in the wildly unpredictable Western Conference – where the standings seem to shift almost every night – they had followed it with two bruising losses, first to the Magic and then to the Lakers. Both were decisive defeats, with Minnesota outplayed and left facing too many unanswered questions at precisely the point in the season when things are supposed to come into focus. At this stage, though, the only teams that seem truly certain of how good they are – or how good they can become – are the Thunder, Spurs, Pistons and maybe the Celtics. That is where things stand.

The matchup also revolved around two central figures: Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Edwards. Leonard was playing at his highest level since his brief spell with the Raptors – just one season, but one that ended with a truly historic championship. He had become the driving force behind the Clippers’ revival, an All-Star once again, and had kept his level high even as teammates fell away – the now-retired Chris Paul, James Harden and others. On the other side was Edwards, a rising star, a player who wants the throne and claims it whenever he gets the chance, even if his fiery temperament and slight inconsistency have so far kept him from making the final leap, despite improving year after year and averaging more than 29 points a game this season. It was a marquee duel between two teams trying to keep climbing, and between two players from different generations, each with extraordinary talent and each confronting circumstances that were different, but in some ways strikingly similar.

The win was emphatic, and it belonged to the Clippers, 153-128. They ran over their opponents behind one name that towered above everyone else: Kawhi, of course. The star finished with 45 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, along with 2 steals, while shooting brilliantly: 15 for 20 from the field, 6 for 9 from 3-point range, 9 for 10 at the free-throw line, and just one turnover. That made the admirable but insufficient effort from Anthony Edwards, who scored 36 points, fade into the background. Los Angeles finally broke the game open in the fourth quarter, winning it 44-30, and made history in the process. The Clippers are now 33-32, becoming the first team in NBA history to move above .500 after having been 15 games under that mark – after that 6-21 start. It is an extraordinary turnaround, and one with a name that rises above all the others: Kawhi Leonard. Obviously.

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Los Angeles Clippers

Stats

33 Nicolas Batum
7 Bogdan Bogdanović
12 Cam Christie
8 Kris Dunn
10 Darius Garland
23 Isaiah Jackson
5 Derrick Jones Jr.
2 Kawhi Leonard
11 Brook Lopez
9 Bennedict Mathurin
22 Jordan Miller
55 Norchad Omier
0 Sean Pedulla
4 Kobe Sanders

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF
33 Nicolas Batum	11	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	2/2	0	2
7 Bogdan Bogdanović	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
12 Cam Christie	6	2	2	2	0	1	0	0	0	0/0	1/1	0/1	0	0
8 Kris Dunn	23	5	2	0	2	6	0	4	0	0/0	1/2	1/1	0	4
10 Darius Garland	23	21	1	0	1	6	3	2	0	0/0	3/4	5/9	0	1
23 Isaiah Jackson	17	9	6	0	6	3	1	1	2	5/6	2/3	0/0	0	3
5 Derrick Jones Jr.	28	12	4	1	3	1	1	4	1	4/4	4/5	0/1	0	3
2 Kawhi Leonard	31	45	5	1	4	5	1	2	0	9/10	9/11	6/9	0	0
11 Brook Lopez	24	3	3	0	3	0	1	0	1	0/0	0/0	1/2	0	3
9 Bennedict Mathurin	25	22	2	1	1	3	2	1	0	10/12	3/6	2/4	0	5
22 Jordan Miller	29	14	3	2	1	7	1	1	0	2/4	6/9	0/4	0	1
55 Norchad Omier	6	6	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0/0	3/3	0/0	0	2
0 Sean Pedulla	6	6	1	0	1	3	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	2/4	0	0
4 Kobe Sanders	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	1/1	0/0	0	0

Minnesota Timberwolves

Stats

12 Kyle Anderson
22 Jaylen Clark
10 Mike Conley
0 Donte DiVincenzo
5 Anthony Edwards
27 Rudy Gobert
8 Bones Hyland
7 Joe Ingles
3 Jaden McDaniels
4 Julian Phillips
30 Julius Randle
11 Naz Reid
1 Terrence Shannon Jr.
44 Rocco Zikarsky

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF
12 Kyle Anderson	17	5	1	0	1	3	1	1	0	3/4	1/1	0/0	0	5
22 Jaylen Clark	6	11	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1/1	2/3	2/2	0	0
10 Mike Conley	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
0 Donte DiVincenzo	24	6	4	1	3	2	3	1	0	1/2	1/3	1/2	0	2
5 Anthony Edwards	34	36	2	0	2	5	5	1	0	11/12	8/9	3/8	0	1
27 Rudy Gobert	26	9	5	0	5	4	1	0	0	3/3	3/4	0/0	0	3
8 Bones Hyland	15	10	0	0	0	4	2	1	0	0/0	2/2	2/4	0	4
7 Joe Ingles	6	2	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	0/0	1/1	0/0	0	0
3 Jaden McDaniels	31	11	2	0	2	3	3	0	0	0/0	4/5	1/1	0	2
4 Julian Phillips	6	3	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	1/2	0	0
30 Julius Randle	27	11	6	4	2	4	4	1	0	5/6	3/9	0/1	0	3
11 Naz Reid	25	18	3	1	2	0	1	0	0	1/1	7/12	1/3	0	3
1 Terrence Shannon Jr.	12	4	1	0	1	3	0	0	0	0/0	2/2	0/2	0	1
44 Rocco Zikarsky	6	2	3	1	2	0	0	0	1	0/0	1/1	0/0	0	0