National Basketball Association

The LA Clippers are on the brink of elimination, and Kawhi Leonard is catching the blame

Updated Jun. 3, 2021 4:12 p.m. ET

Wednesday night was a gut punch for the LA Clippers.

Back at home after dropping Games 1 and 2, but winning back-to-back road games, the Clippers had a chance to seize control of their series against the Dallas Mavericks at Staples Center.

Instead, Luka Dončić stole the show, along with the edge in the series, in a 105-100 thriller.

LA's two stars, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George scored 20 and 23 points, respectively, and combined for 15 in the final quarter of the game.

But Leonard made just one field goal in the fourth, finishing with five points on 1-for-3 shooting in the decisive frame.

And to make matters worse, Leonard airballed his attempt at a game-tying 3-pointer with four seconds remaining ⁠— with which Rajon Rondo appeared none too pleased.

The undeniable Batman in the Leonard-George dynamic duo, Leonard caught most of the heat following the loss.

Look no further than the opening minutes of "Undisputed," where Skip Bayless chucked Leonard's signature New Balance sneakers off the set.

"I'm done with him and I'm done with the Clippers!" Bayless shouted. "… In my life, I've never seen anything like last night's game."

Leonard wasn't sharp Wednesday night, that's for sure.

In addition to the airball on his final shot, he led the game with five turnovers, four of which came in the second half. He also had the lowest shooting percentage, 36.8%, of any of LA's starters.

As Shannon Sharpe put it, Leonard was "terrible" in Game 5.

A five-time All-Star and two-time Finals MVP, Leonard has a sensational playoff pedigree.

Interestingly, his key career playoff numbers ⁠— averages of 20.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists ⁠— are better than or near-identical to his regular-season career numbers ⁠— 19.2 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.9 APG.

A similar story is true of this series vs. the Mavs, where he's posting averages of 30.4 PPG, 7.8 RPG and 4.0 APG in the postseason vs. 24.8 PPG, 6.5 RPG and 5.2 APG in the regular season.

So, what gives? Colin Cowherd of "The Herd" said it comes down to Leonard being the main focus of the team.

"The star ⁠— whether it's on the plane, meeting rooms or on the floor ⁠— the star dictates the temperature of the room," Cowherd said. "You become your star. … We've discovered when he's the foundation, your team is weird. Clippers are an enigma. Kawhi is. … If the foundation of your house is Kawhi, it's a haunted house."

Colin Cowherd: The Clippers are an enigma who lack foundation | THE HERD

Colin Cowherd discusses the Los Angeles Clippers' Game 5 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

Then there's the other side of the coin to consider.

Leonard, aka "The Klaw," is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and George has made four All-Defensive teams in his career, but neither one could reign in Dončić, who poured in 42 points ⁠— just one point fewer than Leonard and George had combined ⁠— to lead all scorers.

As Nick Wright pointed out on "First Things First," allowing Dončić to go off like that falls at the feet of the two most prominent Clippers.

"It's Kawhi and Paul George's job to stop him. It's not golf! … If one guy is annihilating you, then it's like ‘OK, who’s supposed to be guarding him?'"

Needless to say, Game 5 didn't ingratiate Leonard with too many pundits.

The good news is that the Clippers still have life, though they'll be facing elimination in back-to-back games against the Mavs.

If Leonard can show out in a big way, starting in Friday's Game 6, perhaps he can garner some positive attention in the media.

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