The LA Clippers have been one of the league's best teams since Dec. 20, but Kawhi Leonard and Darius Garland are still content with one month remaining in the NBA's 2025-26 regular season.
After starting the season 6–21, the Clippers have bounced back and are 26–11, reaching .500 for the first time since the early parts of the season. The Clippers moved to a 32-32 record with a win over the New York Knicks on Monday night to move past the Golden State Warriors for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
But Kawhi Leonard wasn't ready to celebrate anything just yet.
"It's nice, you know, but the job's not done," Kawhi Leonard admitted after the game. "The season isn't over. That's to be expected. Like I tell the guys, you don't train to lose, you train to win, so yeah, it's OK."
Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points, including seven rebounds, eight assists and two steals, in the Clippers' win over the Knicks, while making 10 of 19 shots from the field in 35 minutes of play.
After the game Leonard spoke with several Clippers players about the importance of maintaining their focus throughout the remainder of this regular season.
“We just talked to some players about it,” Leonard said. "Today, when I heard we were .500. Like I said, the job's not done, we've still got games to play, so there's nothing to be happy about."
In his fourth game with the Clippers since returning from a foot injury, Darius Garland played a strong game as he worked his way through the minutes restriction. Garland scored 23 points with seven assists and two steals in 30 minutes of play, knocking down five three-pointers in the process.
He echoed Kawhi Leonard's sentiments after the game, saying there is still more work to be done.
"I'm just here to win games," Darius Garland said after the win over the Knicks. “That's what we do, work in the offseason to win games so it's exciting to get back to .500, but we still have a lot more work to do. We're not done yet.
"[Being .500] Just a number. As I said before, we're not done yet. There are still a lot of games left, and hopefully we'll win some of them so keep trying, keep working on yourself, don't worry about anyone else. We have to get better as a team, especially with our new guys getting acclimated and everything like that, so yeah, we're just worried about the Clippers here.
Head coach Tyronn Lue acknowledged that reaching .500 after being 15 games behind and deep in trouble is an accomplishment in itself.
"It means a lot," head coach Tyronn Lue explained. "Our guys in the locker room stuck with it, kept fighting, kept competing. We thought we should have been better and could have been better. Injuries hurt us, but this team, since I've been here six years, our guys always keep fighting when our backs are against the wall."
"I give credit to our coaching staff they did a great job sticking with it, staying positive, continuing to help these guys get better. Starting 6-21 and getting to .500 right now is huge for us."
The Clippers still face an uphill battle as they try to continue their lead in the Western Conference standings. As of Tuesday night, the Clippers are the eighth seed despite having the same 32-32 record as the Golden State Warriors as they currently lead the season series 2-1 with one game remaining on the final night of the regular season.
The Phoenix Suns have played five games on the Clippers, and have continued to play well despite missing players like Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, Grayson Allen, and Mark Williams all year.
