Stephen Curry gets real on facing Kawhi Leonard in single-game elimination

The Golden State Warriors will be in for a tough challenge when they take on Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers on Wednesday night. It’s the second game of the Western Conference play-in tournament, which means the winner will advance to take on the loser of the Portland Trail Blazers/Phoenix Suns matchup while the loser goes home.

Kawhi Leonard did not play in Sunday night’s game between the Clippers and Warriors, which essentially acted as a dress rehearsal before Wednesday night’s win-or-go-home matchup in Los Angeles. The Clippers, however, still eeked our a victory, winning 115-110. Six Clippers scored in double figures led by Bennedict Mathurin’s 20 points while Stephen Curry paced the Warriors with 24 points.

Both teams now look ahead to Wednesday, when Stephen Curry and the Warriors will have to find a way to slow down Kawhi Leonard in what has been a career year for the Clippers forward.

Leonard finished the season averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 50.5 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from three. Leonard saw career highs in scoring and three-pointers made, taking his offensive game to another level. Leonard is the only player in NBA history to record a career-year in scoring in year 14 or later.

So how do Curry and the Golden State Warriors begin to prepare for a guy like Leonard?

“The same way we do every night,” Stephen Curry said after the Warriors loss Sunday. “You know who to key in on, you know their tendencies, you know what our gameplan is going to be. Just come with a level of focus. You obviously know with a guy like Kawhi, you can play your best defense that you want and he still can get his numbers. It’s just how he gest them and making him work. I feel it all the time. We’ve got to be able to impose our will, even if he still gets his because that’s the challenge to try to beat those other guys.”

Draymond Green also didn’t play in Sunday’s contest, as the Warriors had nothing to really play for given that they’ve been locked in as the 10th seed for a week. He is, however, expected to be ready to play in Wednesday night’s game.

Stephen Curry played just 43 games for the Warriors this season, averaging 26.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from three

Curry returned from a two-month absence due to runner’s knee on April 5th, when the Warriors hosted the Houston Rockets. He finished playing four of the final five regular season games for the Warriors, averaging 20.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game whiel being limited to 26.8 minutes per game.

Wednesday night’s play-in game is set to tip off at 7PM PST on Prime.

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