Kawhi Leonard says LA Clippers will Celebrate win over Dallas
LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard says the team will celebrate its win over the Dallas Mavericks.
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00:00 Judging from his on-court demeanor and postseason success, most people wouldn't expect Kawhi
00:05 Leonard to be someone that would put a lot of stock into a first-round playoff victory.
00:09 Those people, however, would be wrong.
00:11 After the Eclipses eliminated the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6 on Sunday, Leonard spoke to the
00:15 media about the importance of celebrating after a big win, even if there's still plenty
00:19 more to achieve, saying, "You always celebrate.
00:22 I mean, you could be going home right now.
00:25 It's one step closer to where you want to get to, so it's a good accomplishment that
00:28 we got through the first round.
00:29 Now we enjoy it tonight, and we get ready for the next thing tomorrow.
00:33 You always want to enjoy a win.
00:34 You never want to take that away."
00:36 Given the Clippers' title aspirations, it's easy to lose sight of what this team just
00:39 accomplished in the first round.
00:40 Not only did LA eliminate a team with the highest offensive efficiency rating in the
00:45 history of the NBA, but the Clippers earned their first trip to the second round of the
00:49 playoffs since 2015 and first playoff series victory in less than seven games since 2006.
00:55 Leonard, of course, was a big reason for that.
00:58 His 2-10 finalist MVP was terrific in each of LA's six games, averaging 32.8 points,
01:04 10.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.3 steals per game, while shooting roughly 54% from
01:11 the floor.
01:12 His best performance in the first round came on Sunday, where he collected 33 points, 14
01:16 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals, becoming the first player to do so in a playoff game
01:21 since Michael Jordan did more than 30 years ago.
01:25 And even though LA was expected to come out of the first round of the playoffs, it doesn't
01:28 mean we shouldn't credit this team for doing so, but that they shouldn't credit themselves.
01:32 It was a hard-fought series that, at times, could have gone either way.
01:37 Hopefully LA will have some more celebratory to do after the second round, where the team
01:41 will face Vita Jazz or Denver Nuggets.