Steve Kerr: Warriors need to prepare for Kawhi Leonard’s foul tactics before play-in vs. Clippers

The Golden State Warriors have a tall task ahead of them with regards to Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers. The two teams will square off on Wednesday night, with both teams needing a victory just to fight another day in the play-in tournament on Friday night.

Leonard had a career year in the 2025-26, averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.9 steals whiel shooting 50.5 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from three. He averaged career-highs in points, three-pointers made, and three-pointers attempted this season as he looked to play a faster style and get more threes up before defenses can get set.

Stopping Kawhi Leonard is no easy feat, and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr understands that.

“Well he’s always been a great player,” Steve Kerr said. “So I’m not sure how much he’s changed now compared to when we saw him in the NBA Finals in 2019. He’s just gotten better and better, but he’s still doing the same things. He’s just doing them at a high level. The game-plan doesn’t change, but you have to recognize just how good he is, how much they depend on him, and we’ll watch everything in terms of what they’re running for him, his favorite spots to be in.”

Leonard also shot a career-high 89.2 percent from the free throw line, taking 6.4 a night throughout the season.

“We’ll have some rules for our guys that we’ve had in regular season games too in terms of not letting him do certain things,” Kerr said. “He’s going to really try to get fouled. He’s going to do the NBA thing which lots of guys are doing. [Brandin Podziemski] does it for us, he’ll try to use the rules against the other team and get to the foul line so we have to be prepared for all of that, just like they do with [Brandin Podziemski].”

Leonard has won five of the last six games he’s played against the Golden State Warriors as a member of the LA Clippers, including a 124-109 overtime victory on the final day of the 2024-25 regular season that saw the winner secure a playoff spot while the loser was relegated to the play-in tournament.

Stephen Curry has seen enough of Leonard to know how difficult he is to play against.

“You know who to key in on, you know their tendencies, you know what our gameplan is going to be,” Curry explained ahead of Wednesday’s play-in game. “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.”

As a team, the LA Clippers have defeated the Golden State Warriors 10 of the last 11 times since since December 2023.

Wednesday night’s game between the Clippers and Warriors will tip off at 7PM PST on Amazon Prime.

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