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Clippers star Kawhi Leonard’s dominance highlighted by incredible shot chart

Originally posted on NBA on ClutchPoints
By Jedd Pagaduan | Last updated Apr 22, 2025 1:37 AM ET

The Los Angeles Clippers entered the 2025 NBA playoffs as one of the biggest dark horses in the championship hunt, and for good reason. After all, it looks like Kawhi Leonard is primed for a healthy playoff run for the first time in years. And while the Clippers may have lost Game 1 of their first-round series to the Denver Nuggets in excruciating fashion, Leonard wasn’t about to let his team go down 0-2, as he put them on his back with a 35-point performance in an exhilarating 105-102 victory.

Leonard has always been one of the premier postseason performers of this generation, and only injuries have managed to slow him down under the grand postseason stage. But with him being healthy, the Clippers star is once again dominating the opposition. On Monday night in Game 2, Leonard made 15 of his 19 field-goal attempts, with three of those four misses coming on attempts from beyond the arc.

The Clippers star was automatic, and when he gets into one of these hot streaks, it’s over for the opposition. All the Nuggets could do was hope he missed or try to get the ball out of his hands with a double team, and yet Leonard was still able to deliver a grand playoff performance. Just take a gander at this incredible shot chart:

The Kawhi Leonard shot chart from Game 2 of Clippers-Nuggets:

15-of-19 FG
11-of-12 2PT
4-of-7 3PT
6-of-6 in the paint pic.twitter.com/Vpb4c0WxXa

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) April 22, 2025

Leonard missed precisely just one attempt from two-point range, and it’s not like the shots he made were gimmes; the Clippers star made his fair share of contested shots from midrange, and this has long been a hallmark of his game.

This kind of performance comes as a shock to exactly no one who has followed the NBA for years. The Klaw is one of the greatest playoff performers the league has ever seen, and with a clean bill of health, the Clippers could very well ride this hot hand of his deep into the playoffs.

Kawhi Leonard is back to tearing up the opposition for the Clippers

Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) reacts after making a three point basket against the Sacramento Kings during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Watching Kawhi Leonard in last year’s playoffs was tough; it was clear that he was being hampered by a knee injury, and it was ever so apparent in the way he struggled through the two games he played in the Clippers’ first-round series exit against the Dallas Mavericks.

But Leonard is all the way back, picking up where he left off in the 2023 NBA playoffs before he tore his meniscus. In two games against the Phoenix Suns two years ago, Leonard averaged 34.5 points on 54.5 percent shooting from the field, and on Monday night, he delivered one of his best playoff performances in his career.

This article first appeared on NBA on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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