The Los Angeles Clippers made the bold decision to break up their Kawhi Leonard-led core at this year’s NBA trade deadline by moving on from star guard James Harden and longtime center Ivica Zubac.
While many viewed the deals as death blows to the Clippers’ playoff hopes, they have since responded with an impressive 3-1 road trip, with Leonard offering a simple explanation for their success.
Kawhi Leonard Reveals Key to Clippers’ Continued Resurgence Sans James Harden
LA trailed by as many as 15 points during Wednesday’s road matchup against the Houston Rockets before Leonard willed his squad to a comeback.
The seven-time All-Star scored 19 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, including drilling an and-one midrange jumper with 2.0 seconds remaining that propelled the Clippers to a 105-102 victory.
With the standout performance, Leonard, who also tallied 12 rebounds, four assists, and four steals, extended his career-best streak of 20-point games to 33. The 34-year-old continues to turn back the clock, looking like the top-five-caliber player that spearheaded the Toronto Raptors’ 2019 NBA title run.
Across LA’s four-game Western Conference road swing, Leonard averaged a whopping 30.8 points per game, increasing his career-best scoring average to 27.9 ppg through 41 appearances. Meanwhile, the Clippers (26-28) improbably sit just two games below .500 entering the All-Star break after their nightmarish 6-21 start.
Leonard and Co. have maintained momentum despite LA’s top trade deadline acquisition, Darius Garland, whom it landed from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Harden, having yet to make his Clippers debut.
The star playmaker has reportedly “basically recovered” from the right toe sprain he suffered last month. However, team president Lawrence Frank revealed this week that Garland is still rehabbing from offseason left toe surgery, and LA isn’t planning to “skip any steps” in his recovery.
Speaking after Wednesday’s comeback win over Houston, Leonard attributed the Clippers’ resiliency amidst injuries and a challenging schedule to their “love” of the game.
“We love to hoop,” Leonard said when asked what he “learned about” his team over the past four contests.
“At the end of the day, in this game, you’ve gotta play almost every other day, and guys kept their heads in the game, and they wanted to compete, and that’s what we did.”
“We love to hoop,” – Kawhi Leonard on the key to the Clippers finishing their road trip 3-1 amid injuries and roster turnover. pic.twitter.com/jfaNTd8YSV
— StatHunter (@stat_hunter) February 12, 2026
The two-time NBA champion added that LA’s camaraderie has “been great,” as his teammates have shown a willingness to “learn” and get “better,” seemingly implying that there are no egos involved.
Still, the Clippers (26-28) sit ninth in the West, six and a half games behind the sixth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers (32-21) with just 28 outings remaining.
“Every win is important for us, whoever we’re playing, because of the seed that we’re in right now,” Leonard acknowledged. “We wanna move up in the rankings, try to get out of the play-in.”
Kawhi made it clear postgame that the goal is to try and get out of the play-in. pic.twitter.com/y2pLlJei89
— Adam Auslund (@followAdamA) February 12, 2026
LA will look to build on the success of its recent away stretch on Feb. 19 when it hosts the Denver Nuggets (35-20), marking another tough test against an upper-echelon West opponent.
