The Los Angeles Clippers have been in a good space this season. With their star duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George healthy for a major part, it has been a great time to be a Clippers fan. While James Harden‘s arrival did rock a few boats, the Big 4 took off in a marvelous mesh of elite talents, playing off each other’s strengths.

Unfortunately, the “Klaw” got hit by an injury bug for the last two games. The hip contusion that he sustained cost the team their nine-game winning streak. According to the latest injury reports, Coach Lue has confirmed that Kawhi is “day-to-day” for the Hornets game.

Since Leonard arrived in LA, this season has been the best stretch of injury-free time for him. And the team did reap the benefits of Kawhi staying healthy. Particularly since the Utah Jazz matchup on the 8th, where he scored 41 points with 100% free throws (7-on-7). After that, Kawhi scored 27+ points in every game, with the free throw percentage at 100.

After receiving much backlash for being a regular target of injuries, Kawhi Leonard has shown us just how much of an impact he can have when healthy.

Kawhi Leonard, when healthy, is a menace

The 2019 playoffs were Kawhi Leonard’s golden days. Whenever and wherever a discussion on the 2x Finals MVP happens, there will always be the 2019 comparison. The 2023-24 regular season is finally doing justice to it. The above-mentioned stats are just the tip of the iceberg.

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An aspect that the Clippers had struggled with was lineup stability. With Leonard constantly unavailable, it was hard to reach some kind of consistency in the lineups. Having that taken care of, the cohesion came naturally. Now if we were to look at some advanced stats, among the 103 players that have tried at least 75 shots within the restricted area, Kawhi Leonard is placed in the fifth position in conversion rate.

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Another feature that provides a clearer picture is the EPM metric or Estimated Plus-Minus by Dunks & Threes. It estimates a player’s contribution to the team in points per 100 possessions for each season. While not everyone is a huge fan of this metric, EPM has proved to be quite effective in MVP discussions.

So, according to that, the 2x NBA Champion stands in the 10th place. The list contains only two other forwards – LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who rank higher than Kawhi. These numbers are, once again, just a small indicator of the actual efforts Leonard has put in this season.

Ultimately, it has become apparent that Kawhi’s health and offensive impact are determining factors for the Clippers’ title aspirations. Hopefully, we can see Leonard back to his usual self in the next game!

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