{"id":625762,"date":"2026-02-26T10:07:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T10:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/625762\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T10:07:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T10:07:56","slug":"kawhi-leonard-drops-its-over-verdict-on-la-clippers-after-losing-vs-lakers-he-has-given-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/625762\/","title":{"rendered":"Kawhi Leonard drops \u2018it\u2019s over\u2019 verdict on LA Clippers after losing vs. Lakers, he has given up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kawhi Leonard\u2019s post-game verdict on the LA Clippers following their narrow 125-122 loss to the Lakers sounded pessimistic, but the Western Conference standings say their season is far from finished.<\/p>\n

The defeat in Los Angeles left the Clippers just inside the Play-In Tournament picture rather than knocked out entirely.<\/p>\n

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While Leonard\u2019s tone reflected frustration, the statistical reality still offers a pathway to the postseason.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Photo by Tanner Pearson\/Clarkson Creative\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Kawhi Leonard reacts after the LA Clippers lose to the LA Lakers<\/p>\n

In remarks shared by Joey Linn<\/a>, Leonard said, \u201cJust development over time. I think it\u2019s over now. It\u2019s a fourth of the season left. But every day is a day to grow. A day to learn and get better.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo just gotta keep looking over time and see in two weeks if we\u2019re getting better and see what happens from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lakers game was tight, with Los Angeles battling through stretches against a playoff-caliber team before ultimately falling short.<\/p>\n

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Leonard\u2019s comment suggested he was frustrated with the process and progress rather than officially conceding their season.<\/p>\n

Given how tightly packed the Western standings are, a single loss, even to a strong rival, does not automatically derail a hopeful campaign when the Play-In window still looms. As of the latest standings, the Clippers sit ninth in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n

Why the LA Clippers still have a Play-In path after Leonard\u2019s comments<\/p>\n

The current Western Conference format allows teams seeded 7th through 10th to qualify for the NBA\u2019s Play-In Tournament, meaning the Clippers\u2019 position keeps them in the hunt for a postseason berth entering the final stretch of the regular season.<\/p>\n

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They are just outside the 7-8 spots and within reach of improving their position with consistent wins. The Play-In gives them the chance to secure one of the last two playoff seeds, keeping their title hopes alive even without a top-six seed.<\/p>\n

The difference between ninth and higher positions is narrow in terms of games behind and remaining schedule, and a brief winning run could move the Clippers up the standings before the regular season concludes.<\/p>\n

That means Leonard\u2019s \u201cit\u2019s over now\u201d may be more heat-of-the-moment frustration than a final season judgment. With quality pieces around him and time still remaining, the scenario is still salvageable.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kawhi Leonard\u2019s post-game verdict on the LA Clippers following their narrow 125-122 loss to the Lakers sounded pessimistic,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3789],"tags":[7,559,529,4034,192,4032,300,251,135,4033,4031,6,574,43122],"class_list":{"0":"post-625762","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-clippers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-clippers","10":"tag-kawhi-leonard","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-la-clippers","13":"tag-laclippers","14":"tag-lakers","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","17":"tag-losangeles","18":"tag-losangelesclippers","19":"tag-nba","20":"tag-western-conference","21":"tag-western-conference-standings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116136386015830594","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}