Kawhi Leonard speaks on his game-winning shot against the Indiana Pacers.
Kawhi Leonard saved a nearly embarrassing loss for the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, hitting the game-winning shot against the Indiana Pacers.
Down one with under ten seconds remaining, Kawhi hit his patented midrange jumper to give the Clippers a 114-113 lead.
The Clippers had a chance to further ice the game, but Bennedict Mathurin missed two free throws. The Pacers had a chance of their own to win the game, but Jay Huff missed two free throws.
Asked after the game about his game-winning shot, Kawhi said he has a mindset that the ball is going to go in every time he shoots it.
"Being mentally focused. Knowing how I was missing shots in the fourth quarter, I just decided that I had to put the ball up," he said.
Kawhi said he was dealing with a wrist injury, and he just had to push through it.
"I'm just going to shoot that [expletive] as high as I can. I shot it, and it went in," he said.
A Much-Needed Victory
The Clippers are in a tight Play-In race with the Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors to secure the eighth seed in the West. The victory kept the Clippers in eighth with a 1.5 game lead over the Blazers and a two game lead over the Warriors.
Securing the eighth seed means they would need just one victory in the Play-In tournament, while falling to ninth or tenth would mean they need two wins, and would guarantee them playing the one seed in the first round.
There is a chance they climb to seventh, but they trail the Phoenix Suns by 2.5 games.
Every victory is important given the positioning at stake, but no team fighting for a playoff spot can afford to lose to the worst team in the league, which is where the Pacers sit.
Kawhi Heroics
Kawhi's shot against the Pacers wasn't his first clutch bucket of the season.
On February 11, against the Houston Rockets, Kawhi hit the go-ahead shot with two seconds left, and was fouled to complete the three-point play.
Just a week ago against the Dallas Mavericks, he scored seven points in overtime to help secure the victory.
On Friday against the Pacers, the Clippers needed everything they could get from their superstar, who finished with 28 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals on 13-26 shooting.
It was his 50th straight game of scoring 20+ or more, extending his franchise record.