Kawhi Leonard鈥檚 disposition in the aftermath of the Clippers鈥 match the other day wasn鈥檛 that of a proud competitor who just had his worst outing of the season. In fact, he was decidedly upbeat, clearly an offshoot of the outcome. For all his travails, he helped carve victory in his new digs at the expense of the Raptors, his immediate past teammates. They had, and still have, relationships outside the court that made, and make, results on it matter. And, even on a night where he made just two of 11 shots and could have had a tainted quadruple-double had he committed another turnover with an assist, the bragging rights were his.
Indeed, the Raptors were feisty from opening tip, making a go of the set-to despite missing vital cogs Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka. They were on the second of a back-to-back set, and yet remained spry and alert, no doubt buoyed by the still-fresh memory of their success against the Lakers and motivated to get the better of Leonard. They were determined to go two of two at the Staples Center, in the process showing up the star who led them to the championship last season, and who then still found cause to leave them as soon as he could.
In the end, however, there could be no overcoming the Clippers鈥 superiority in talent — and not merely when compared to the Raptors. They鈥檙e better against just about all the others in the league, well coached and boasting of depth and confidence borne of proven mettle; they didn鈥檛 go deep in the loaded West last season for nothing. And if they鈥檙e bent on claiming the hardware this time around, it鈥檚 because they have Leonard, arguably the National Basketball Association鈥檚 best of the best.
Here鈥檚 the scary part: The Clippers still have higher gears on tap. All-Star Paul George is close to returning to action; once he does and gets his bearings back, look out. His partnership with Leonard has the potential to trump that of the Lakers鈥 LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Raptors came up with a good formula to contain them the other day. Unfortunately, it didn鈥檛 work. And absent the element of surprise, it鈥檚 bound to fail the next time around. They鈥檙e that good, and they鈥檒l be even better — make that much, much better.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
