What Draymond Green said about Kawhi Leonard just before play-in showdown

Story by

Story by
What Draymond Green said about Kawhi Leonard just before play-in showdown

Tomer Azarly, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Fri, Apr 17, 2026 ·

5 min read

About Our Ads

What Draymond Green said about Kawhi Leonard just before play-in showdown appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

The Golden State Warriors completed the tall task with their victory over Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers . It went down to the final minutes, Leonard is not an unfamiliar foe to a Warriors team that has had multiple battles against, from the Western Conference Finals with the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA Finals with the Toronto Raptors .

Draymond Green had played 43 games against Kawhi Leonard over his career entering Wednesday’s play-in game against the LA Clippers. The 44th one, however, was an absolute masterclass by Draymond Green and his Warriors teammates in what was a 126-121 Golden State win.

Leonard was held to just 21 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and five turnovers on 8-of-17 shooting in 40 minutes of play. The Clippers star wasn’t his usual self in the second half, when the Warriors constantly blitzed and double-teamed him.

Kawhi Leonard had just seven points and five turnovers in the second half, marking the first time the star had seven or fewer points and five or more turnovers in a half of basketball.

In the days leading up to the contest between the Clippers and Warriors to the play-in game, Draymond Green expressed where his mindset was when it came to slowing down Leonard.

“Well, number one, I think it’s important that, A, it’s a complete team effort,” Draymond Green said after a Warriors practice during the week. “No one guy is gonna stop that guy, he’s too good. So it’s a complete team effort and being locked in on our game plan.

“And then you just try to make them take tough shots and live with the results. Ultimately, I always tell guys, Kawhi’s a great player. If he shoots 50% from the field, if I can make him miss one more shot, then I did my job. If, out of ten shots and if he’s gonna go 5-of-10, if I can make that 4-of-10, then 4-of-10 becomes 8-of-20, right? I did my job, and I think that’s ultimately what you have to understand when you’re playing against superstar players.”

This season, Kawhi Leonard finished with career highs in points, field goal attempts, three-pointers made, three-pointers attempted, and three-point rate, taking and making more threes than he ever has in his career. With a stronger focus on scoring the basketball on a team that heavily relied on it, Green knew he’d have to be okay with Leonard scoring on him.

“NBA coaches are the best coaches in the world. So they’re gonna put that guy in positions over the course of 48 minutes to have some success, no matter what you do as a defender. So ultimately, as the defender, I just want, when they’re putting him in all of these positions for success, I just need to try to make it a little bit tougher. Make that shot a little bit tougher. If he wants to get that shot where you’re standing, can I make him take that shot one step further back? That’s what it ultimately boils down to.”

Leonard and Green have played against each other 30 times in the regular season and 13 times in the NBA playoffs, including a six-game series in the 2019 NBA Finals that saw Leonard win the NBA Championship and Finals MVP.

“Man, he’s an incredible player,” Green added. “I was telling somebody the other day, this Kawhi, we’re watching now, and he’s even better. But we’re seeing him healthy, and he looked like the Kawhi that we played in the NBA Finals seven years ago. And just as a competitor, as someone who’s played him throughout my career, I’m happy to see him healthy. As a guy who, you know he’s a hard worker, look where he started. He come in with a 14, 15 pick or something like that, couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean, now he’s one of the better shooters in our league, so you know he works. To see that year league get cut by something that he couldn’t control, and then to watch people talk about him like he not who he is, it was unfortunate. And so to see him playing at the level that he’s playing at, competitor or not, just as a fan of basketball, I’m happy as hell for him.”

With the win on Wednesday night, Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors advanced to play against the Phoenix Suns on Friday night for a chance to reach the NBA playoffs and make a run at the defending NBA champions in the first round of the postseason.

Kawhi Leonard is entering the final year of his three year contract extension and will have big decisions to make as he becomes an expiring contract. Will he be satisfied with staying in Los Angeles and building a contender? Will be apply pressure on the Clippers to build one? Or is he ready to move on?

Mobilize your Website

View Site in Mobile | Classic

Share by: