Kawhi Leonard kept making history just before the LA Clippers faced the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night, and he did it while still on the floor. The seven-time NBA All-Star was not listed on the Clippers' injury report for the second night of a back-to-back, giving Los Angeles another chance to lean on the forward as the season tightens.
Leonard's run of 20-point games reached 55 straight, the longest streak in franchise history after he passed Bob McAdoo. It was also the second-longest active streak in the league behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Leonard said the milestone was “amazing,” adding that he was thankful to be playing consistently and to be in the conversation with the greats of the game. He said it felt good simply to be on the floor and to go through the highs and lows that come with an NBA season.
The numbers explain why the Clippers have needed him. Leonard has averaged 28.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals in 19 games since the start of March, and over the season he has put up 28.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals while shooting 50.6 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from three-point range. He had played in three straight games and nine consecutive games overall after missing two of three in the middle of March with a left ankle sprain.
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That stretch came after a harsher interruption in November, when a severe right ankle sprain cost him 10 of his 16 missed games. Leonard has now appeared in 63 of the Clippers' 79 games this season, and Los Angeles is 37-26 in those contests. The team is 4-12 when he does not play and 0-3 in games he has left in the fourth quarter because of injury.
The timing matters because the Clippers have less than one week left in the 2025-26 regular season and are trying to hold the eighth seed in the Western Conference. They were essentially tied with the Portland Trail Blazers for that spot before the matchup with Oklahoma City, and they still had three games left after facing the Thunder. The Clippers are also trying to keep building chemistry between Leonard, Darius Garland and Bennedict Mathurin after the February trade deadline, which makes every healthy night from Leonard more valuable than the last.
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For Los Angeles, the stakes are no longer abstract. Leonard's availability has shaped the season, and with the playoffs closing in, the Clippers need him playing like this more than they need any reminder of how fragile the margin is.
