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Ohm Youngmisuk, ESPN editor
LOS ANGELES– Kawhi Leonard job MiamiIt is Bam Adebayo early in the fourth quarter before turning around, whiffing on the Heat defender’s baseline and delivering a one-handed reverse slam.
After a four-game absence due to a bruised left hip, Leonard returned and looked healthy, scoring 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals in the game. Los Angeles Clippers‘ Victory 121-104 against the short-handed Heat at Crypto.com Arena.
Leonard, who played 33 minutes in his first game back, also reached 13,000 career points against a team he has become accustomed to beating. Leonard won 13 straight regular season games against the Heat, who were without Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin, Haywood Highsmith And Josh Richardson because of injuries.
“You see the performance,” says the Clippers leader James Harden said of Leonardo. “Both sides of the ball, just elite. Shooting, defensively, just being active, creating opportunities in transition. We needed that (for Leonard) to get better and improve. We missed him. “
The Clippers (20-12) are soaring. They won their third straight game and have now won 12 of their last 14 games.
Leonard, who left without speaking to reporters Monday night, missed the previous four games after being kneed in the hip near the end of a Dec. 20 win at Dallas.
But after Sunday’s practice, Leonard was back in the starting lineup. It took him about a quarter to warm up.
In his first game against Miami since February 5, 2020, Leonard asserted himself in the second quarter, scoring 13 points and making 5 of 6 shots.
“It’s great to have two back in the lineup,” the goalie said Paul Georges said. “He does all the little intangible things. He’s so reliable. But he missed, I think, a little over a week. It would take him a little while to get back into his rhythm, but I thought he ‘had done and it looked the same.’
Leonard continued to make his presence felt in the second half when he made all of his steals while scoring 11 of his points.
“He’s one of the winningest players in the history of the league in the regular season,” Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said of Leonard before the game. “So if he’s healthy, he’s out there, he’s putting his team in a position to win… They’ve come to an agreement for now.”
