After a brutal 6-21 start that had fans writing them off before Christmas, the Los Angeles Clippers have flipped the script in dramatic fashion. Since then, they’ve rattled off a 16-3 run that’s put them right back in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. This isn’t just a team playing better basketball - it’s a team that’s rediscovered its identity and is finally starting to look like the version of itself many envisioned when the season began.
During this stretch, the Clippers have taken down a range of opponents - from young, energetic squads like the Rockets and Pistons to seasoned teams like the Warriors and Raptors. They’ve even knocked off their crosstown rivals, the Lakers, twice. Now sitting at 22-24, they’re tied with the Blazers for the ninth seed in the West - a remarkable turnaround considering where they were just a month ago.
A huge part of the resurgence has been the play of Kawhi Leonard. Since just before the holidays, Kawhi has looked like the All-NBA version of himself again - calm, calculated, and unshakably efficient.
He’s been the engine behind this turnaround, but he’s not doing it alone. James Harden has stepped into a stabilizing role, helping guide the offense and keeping the Clippers composed in tight games.
Together, they’ve helped the team weather not just early-season struggles on the court, but also off-court noise - including the fallout from the Aspiration scandal and the abrupt release of Chris Paul.
The Clippers now find themselves three games up on the Mavericks and Grizzlies for the final play-in spot. But if they keep this level of play up, the play-in might not even be necessary. They’re 5.5 games back of the 6-seed, and with 36 games left on the schedule, that gap is far from insurmountable.
On a recent episode of No Fouls Given, Danny Green and Paul Pierce broke down the Clippers’ recent surge and what it could mean for the postseason. Green, who was in the building for one of the Clippers’ wins over the Lakers, said the energy shift was obvious.
“They just look like they have a different energy to them, man,” Green said. “I was at the game when they played the Lakers.
To start the game, they was up big. The Lakers came back, but they was up big, but you could just see the type of mindset they were playing with.”
Green pointed to a healthy Kawhi, Harden’s steady hand, and Ivica Zubac’s interior presence as key factors. He also highlighted the impact of younger rotation players stepping up with more aggression and confidence. And while Brook Lopez and Kris Dunn aren’t putting up gaudy numbers, Green gave them credit for embracing their roles and playing within the system.
And of course, no Clippers conversation is complete without a nod to the Paul George trade, which still looms large. Green joked, “At least they’re not giving up a crazy pick to OKC,” referencing the 2026 first-rounder that still belongs to the Thunder - the final piece of that blockbuster deal.
Paul Pierce, meanwhile, offered cautious optimism. As the league’s oldest roster, the Clippers are always one injury away from a setback, and Pierce didn’t shy away from that concern. “They’re an injury away from going back in the tank, but I like them now and hopefully they stay healthy,” he said.
But then, in classic Pierce fashion, he couldn’t resist throwing a jab at the Lakers when the conversation turned to potential playoff matchups. When cohost Wosny Lambre floated the idea of a rematch with the Nuggets or a showdown with the defending champion Thunder, Green mentioned wanting to see a Lakers-Clippers series. Pierce didn’t hesitate: “They’ll sweep the Lakers.”
That take drew immediate pushback from Green, who said he’d expect a seven-game battle. But Pierce has a long history of Laker animosity - from his Celtics days to his late-career stint with the Clippers - so his bold prediction wasn’t exactly shocking.
Here’s the wild part: despite sharing a city and years of playoff contention, the Lakers and Clippers have never met in the postseason. Not once. This year, that could finally change - but it would require both teams to advance past the first round, which would likely mean landing in a 3-6 or 4-5 matchup.
So far this season, the Clippers have taken two of three from the Lakers. But it’s worth noting that Austin Reaves missed both of those Clippers wins with a calf strain. The Lakers won the only matchup where both squads were at full strength - a game that came early in the year, back when the Clippers were still trying to find their footing.
They’ve got one more regular-season matchup left, and if the standings break just right, we might finally get that long-awaited playoff clash. And if the Clippers keep playing like this - with Kawhi locked in, Harden steady, and the supporting cast clicking - they might be the team nobody wants to see come April.