Kawhi, PG will take some time to work
Wednesday night’s contest marked the first time that Paul George and Kawhi Leonard suited up together, and for a majority of the game, it was easy to see that.
George and Leonard each had solid performances — George finished with 25 points, five rebounds and eight assists, while Leonard had 17 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks — but their on-court chemistry was seriously lacking.
Before the game, we learned that these two have played virtually no time together in practice, so their struggle to connect with the rest of the starting group is understandable. Still, they combined to commit 10 of LA’s 23 turnovers on the night, and many of those were unforced.
That said, there is no reason whatsoever to worry about this duo.
The Clippers played their 15th game last night, but in a way, it was also their first. The team we’ve watched so far hasn’t been the one that LA will field for a majority of the year or throughout the postseason. These are nothing more than growing pains, and it’s going to take some time for them to get worked out.
Come December or January, this will look like a much more unified group. George and Leonard just need to get more in-game reps together and with the rest of their teammates to get to that point, and that hasn’t been a possibility until now.
In the meantime, we need to be patient. There will be nights when they mesh perfectly with the rest of the team, and others that look like last night’s game. We can’t be too quick to judge for either of those types of performances.