LOS ANGELES — The term “Halloween” was certainly fitting for Friday night’s event at the Intuit Dome because it was a treat to be at the edge of your seat up until the buzzer sounded off.

In their first game of the Emirates cup, the LA Clippers took care of the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 126-124 off of a buzzer beater from their Superstar Kawhi Leonard. 

In the aftermath of the game, Leonard was asked about his thoughts after the shot and simply framed it in two words.

Is Leonard still a superstar?

Over the last four seasons, with the Clippers that question has floated around amongst media rankings and fans about discussions. It is not because of Leonard’s ability or resume, but the two-time champion and finals mvp’s availability. However, when he steps on the court against his opponent/match up, he tends to send the message clearly. 

Tonight, it was against Zion Williamson who also had a great night with 29 points shooting 52.9% from the field. Throughout the fourth quarter, both were seemingly going bucket for bucket. Williamson attacked the rim with fearlessness and power layups in the half-court. While Leonard, was getting to his spots at the mid-range, and three-point line rising up and cashing in bucket after bucket. He finished with 34 points off of a ridiculous 68.8% FG percentage. Rarely see that from any other superstar in the NBA.  

Aside from the shot, there were many others who contributed to the win both offensively and defensively. 

Leonard, Derrick Jones Jr, Ivica Zubac, and John Collins all shot over 60% while scoring double figures. Harden shot less than 50% however his impact was heavily felt with 24 points and 14 rebs. 

With the Clippers at 3-2, they have many high and lows they must attend to. The first game versus the Utah Jazz, where they looked completely out of sync to a game versus the Portland Trail Blazers, where they seemed to have an answer for every attack. The first order of business for the Clippers is to build consistency, and that begins with their Head Coach Ty Lue. 

Referring to the previous post-game press conference versus the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. Lue had reinforced that it’s going to take 10-12 games to come with consistent lineups, which could cause many droughts throughout games. 

Asked Tyronn Lue about being down one starter, having to adjust first units at halftime, and still having so many options to figure out within a game

T. Lue emphasized again that it will take “10-12 games just to figure out how we want to play, who fits well together” pic.twitter.com/fAPX1J1wQe

— Law Murray 🎃 (@LawMurrayTheNU) October 27, 2025

When speaking on lineups and fits that can come in many forms on a game-to-game basis, but the roster from top to bottom is versatile enough offensively and defensively to take on that challenge. This is a reason though that Lue should be able to figure out who fits where quickly to ensure they don’t give away games.Â