The sample size is limited, of course, but the early returns on the Kawhi/DG pairing are excellent. The offensive rating is the highest of any duo in the league, and their net rating is the highest of any two starter combination in the league. Clippers are 8-2 when both players play.

Both players have been on minutes restrictions for most of the time Garland has been on the team, with Garland averaging 28 mpg, and Kawhi at 30 mpg in that time. Their time on the court has also often been staggered, especially when Mathurin was out. Now that he’s back and Garland’s minutes are ramping up, we should see more of the Kawhi/DG duo on the court together. Last night was the first game when Kawhi, Garland, Mathurin, and Collins have all played.

Garland is averaging 21.¹⁄₂.0/6.8 in 27.7 mpg on 50-51-82 splits since joining the Clippers.

_01213_ | Clippers

22 | 7 hours ago

DG is a nonchalant assassin

Hope everyone stays healthy for a playoff run

PootieTooGood | Cavaliers

15 | 6 hours ago

DG had pretty under-stated stats in Cleveland due to a low usage rate. Figured the moment the ball’s in his hands more, he’ll be putting up big numbers

cashappmebitch | Wizards

11 | 7 hours ago

Honestly hats off to the Clippers for still being competitive despite the Paul George trade. That’s the type of trade that ruins most franchises, but they’re still a playoff team despite it all

MegaMatrix08 | Hawks

3 | 6 hours ago

Clippers PG was good though?

Salty_Watermelon | Clippers

1 | 3 hours ago

PG was definitely good during the 19-20 regular season and played a big part in our 2021 run to the WCF. His Game 5 performance versus the Jazz was great and he

But it fell apart after that. He was unreliable as a 1st option when Kawhi missed extended time and by the end of his Clippers he had become maddeningly unreliable as a 3rd option behind Kawhi and Harden. He would completely disappear on offense in consecutive games and committed bizarre turnovers at the most inopportune moments.

The version of PG that we’ve seen in Philly is not surprising to Clippers fans. He was already well on his way to being Tobias Harris with plus defense.

VladimirPutain1 | Timberwolves

1 | an hour ago

He was really good in 23-24 as well. Not in the playoffs, sure, but Kawhi was injured anyway.

JimmyKanine

2 | 5 hours ago

A lot of it was buyout guys overachieving, Ty Lue’s offense, and the Lakers giving them a top center for Mika Muscala before any of that lmao

Jumpy-Marketing-4074

-4 | 6 hours ago

Why? They most likely cheated and deserve to be removed from any kind of play off contention.

Sadly Adam silver won’t do shit to his buddy Ballmer

AshenSacrifice | Clippers

1 | 3 hours ago

Hopefully Ballmer circumvents for Jokic or Wemby next

Anxious_Subject_2604

-4 | 6 hours ago

That’s valid take, if you haven’t seen the Clippers with PG play.

Zealousideal_Can_365

10 | 7 hours ago

I love the fit, like everyone said hopefully they stay healthy, they could take any team to 7

SplitOk186

-7 | 6 hours ago

OKC vs. Clippers would be a sweep or at most a 5 game series can we be fucking serious

“Take it to 7” lmao

Zealousideal_Can_365

6 | 6 hours ago

You seem angry. The Clippers shouldn’t make anyone angry outside their fans. Are you a closet Clippers fan, mate?

AshenSacrifice | Clippers

1 | 3 hours ago

He’s still not wrong. We need to be real

True_Scallion_7011

5 | 6 hours ago

If clippers had Yanic, I would give them a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ chance against okc

AshenSacrifice | Clippers

1 | 3 hours ago

Yanic is my favorite player on the team, and you sir are insane 😂😂

inightyDAB | Luka Dončić

7 | 6 hours ago

If I were Spurs or OKC I would not want to play them in the first round.

Special_Intention_54

4 | 5 hours ago

I’ve said it a couple of times before. Not sure about OKC, but the Spurs’ core players don’t have any playoff experience, and if they run into a HEALTHY Kawhi in the playoffs, then an upset is a huge possibility.

Just look at OKC when they didn’t have experience and they got beaten by Luka-led Dallas.

The Spurs could get scary for as long as Wemby can stay healthy, but I’m not really sure if this is the year.

Limp_Screen7405

1 | 3 hours ago

Yawn, we say this about Kawhi and the Clippers every year. See y’all next year w the same blah blah

xyleptical

1 | 6 hours ago

Anyone actually think they can upset OKC?

Adsex

5 | 5 hours ago

It’s unlikely but I could happen. The Suns are probably a sweep, and I’d have OKC/Spurs favorite even without Shai/Wemby.

goldenboots | Timberwolves

5 | 5 hours ago

Kawhi is one of the best playoff performers ever. Any team he’s on CAN do it.

Limp_Screen7405

1 | 3 hours ago

He has won 2 playoff series this decade

goldenboots | Timberwolves

5 | 3 hours ago

And my point still stands!

Just because he CAN do it don’t mean he WILL. But he has the kind of potential very few have. So when someone asks if they can upset OKC, the answer is yes, because with Kawhi, they CAN.

Limp_Screen7405

-1 | 3 hours ago

They can’t. Kawhi hasn’t proven anything this decade, this isn’t some LeBron-level guy who can just will his teams to Ws cuz he’s him lol

Ok-Tree4365

1 | 5 hours ago

I think they have a better chance with OKC than SAS.

ksn0vaN7

0 | 4 hours ago

That tracks. You really want them in the second round.

ilikekittens2018 | Nuggets

6 | 7 hours ago

Kawhi hitting a new prime out of nowhere and DG being an elite scorer and playmaker, no huge surprise but still really impressive. I’d be scared to see them in round 1, might not win or take it to 7 but every game could be scary even for a great team like OKC or the Spurs.

Adsex

3 | 5 hours ago

Kawhi is always scary but I don’t think they’re that scary. Last year your team had no depth, MPJ could barely lift his arm and was still starting. And Zubac is among the best to slow down Jokic, maybe the best. And y’all still won.

ilikekittens2018 | Nuggets

2 | 5 hours ago

Yeah. I don’t see them pulling off an upset in a series but they could win a game or two if a better team is caught sleeping. They’re good enough that it’ll be a legit series against whoever they play even tho they’ll lose.

AshenSacrifice | Clippers

1 | 3 hours ago

Nice downplay but the nuggets took the defending champs to 7 games as well. All 3 teams were close in level, OKC is just a horrendous matchup for the clippers

nluna1975 | Lakers

4 | 7 hours ago

If healthy, can they get the 7th seed and beat the Spurs? A healthy Kawhi is scary in a 7 game series.

SplitOk186

15 | 7 hours ago

How do people fall for this Clippers gimmick every single season lmao

nluna1975 | Lakers

14 | 7 hours ago

Cause that damn Kawhi is that good and lulls you into that trap.

SplitOk186

-8 | 7 hours ago

Kawhi hasn’t accomplished a thing as a Clipper other than beating Luka + nobodies

2019 was an eternity ago it’s time to let it go

nluna1975 | Lakers

8 | 6 hours ago

That series last season against Denver was a great 7 game series. You are correct as he hasn’t accomplished anything in a long time but that doesn’t mean he’s some bum, when he’s on, hes as good as any player in the NBA which is where he lulls you into that trap. Since that horrible start, they have been one of the best teams in the nba, record wise and look to be getting better after acquiring Garland. Im just saying, i would not be surprised if they beat the Suns to grab that 7th seed and give the Spurs a hell of a series like they did with Denver last season.

[deleted]

0 | 6 hours ago

[deleted]

nluna1975 | Lakers

3 | 6 hours ago

It seems like Kawhi is playing better with Garland then Harden and Garland is actually playing D which is not Hardens best ability.

25/5/7 is pretty good for barely doing anything. He was the leading scorer in all their wins. With as good as kawhi is playing right now, i dont think its a stretch to say they will give the spurs a good series.

Anxious_Subject_2604

1 | 6 hours ago

Check out that guy’s history. He’s 100% trolling.

Ok-Tree4365

2 | 6 hours ago

You mean the Harden that averaged 18.7 points on 43% FG and 36% 3P and scored 7 points in Game 7?

TCTInnings

7 | 7 hours ago

The Clippers gimmick (even going back to Doc) is overachieving with a worse team and underachieving with a good team

coachketchup | Clippers

5 | 6 hours ago

There’s no shame in losing to the Nuggets. It was a very competitive series that could have gone either way.

3 months ago this entire sub was still making AJ to OKC jokes

Mario_Viana | Neemias Queta

4 | 6 hours ago

to be fair they took the nuggets to 7 games, who in turn took okc to 7 games as well.

ImpressionCertain736

3 | 6 hours ago

Somehow losing a 7 game series where 1 or two games were decided on the final possession is a bad thing.

Maybe there’s just a bunch of 13 year olds in this sub.

Ok-Tree4365

2 | 6 hours ago

I think most anyone who watched that series thinks the Clippers would have had it if Jokic’s final game 4 shot left his hand .01 seconds later, or if it had even grazed the rim.

Mario_Viana | Neemias Queta

1 | 6 hours ago

Well losing any series is a bad thing, but its far from the typical “first round exit” we usually see

ImpressionCertain736

2 | 6 hours ago

29 teams are frauds every year

Adsex

2 | 5 hours ago

If you only beat frauds, you might as well be a fraud, after all.

AshenSacrifice | Clippers

1 | 3 hours ago

Championship gimmick sure; but the Clippers have won multiple playoff series before. Winning ONE series is not that hot a take

Ok-Tree4365

-1 | 6 hours ago

You mean the gimmick of asking a question?

Ok-Tree4365

0 | 6 hours ago

I believe in the Clippers more than most, but with a center lineup of Lopez/Jackson, I do not think they have a chance against any team with a good center rotation. Their best matchup with Wemby would be Niederhauser, and he’s out for the season, although Batum has been pretty good with denying Wemby the ball.

nluna1975 | Lakers

0 | 6 hours ago

If Draymond can keep Wemby at bay for a few qtrs then Batum can do it for a few mins. This season the Clips played them close even without Kawhi for 1 game and Garland missing the 2nd game.

mucho-gusto | CLE

3 | 6 hours ago

The rare win-win trade. Great to see DG (I call him “Shoes”) succeeding with his new team after getting time to fully heal! Meanwhile the steady availability of Harden has kept us afloat during a string of more unfortunate injuries to other players.

Anxious_Subject_2604

4 | 6 hours ago

Anyone that actually watches the games would understand why this happened. Garland is a spacer and a very quick player (both footspeed and decision making). These types of guys fit Kawhi.

Harden and PG into a clogged Ty Lue offense was legit an absolute terror to watch.

nowhathappenedwas | NBA

2 | 7 hours ago

Where is this data from?

PBPstats has them at 129.0 and 110.1.

Ok-Tree4365

3 | 6 hours ago

https://www.nba.com/stats/lineups/advanced?GroupQuantity=2&dir=D&slug=advanced&sort=OFF_RATING

There’s the offensive rating of 131.7 (higher than quoted), but also has defensive rating at 108.3 (as opposed to the 106.3) that I listed in the title.

The stats I got were from SI, which the mods won’t allow, maybe for good reason.

https://www*si*com/nba/clippers/onsi/news/clippers-destroying-teams-kawhi-leonard-darius-garland-duo-court-01kmn8e0f5tk#:~:text=It%20is%20also%20the%20best,the%20elite%20of%20the%20elite.

nowhathappenedwas | NBA

1 | 5 minutes ago

Thanks.

KeyMaster72

1 | 6 hours ago

I don’t catch too many Clippers games, I have a question for the people that follow them closely.
If everyone is healthy, how do you think this team compares to the fully healthy Clippers teams of the Kawhi/PG era?

AshenSacrifice | Clippers

1 | 3 hours ago

2021 clippers before Joe ingles tore Kawhi’s acl were the favorite imo. This team is good, more fun to watch, and faster paced, but definitely not a true title contender.

In the 346 possessions (10 games) Kawhi Leonard and Darius Garland have shared the floor, LAC’s offensive rating is 130.1 and defensive rating is 106.3