Kawhi Leonard, James Harden's hyped reactions to Clippers' game winner vs. Kings

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James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers willed their way to a third straight win at home following a grueling seven game road trip. Kawhi Leonard made sure his Clippers went home with a win and that fans went home happy.

For the first time since since December 2022, Leonard hit the go-ahead shot at the buzzer to give the Clippers a 111-110 victory over the Sacramento Kings at Intuit Dome. And all this happened without Tyronn Lue in the building.

Kawhi Leonard reacts after game winner against Kings

Head coach Tyronn Lue arrived to the game on Sunday night and conducted his pregame media availability. Despite expecting to coach, the team later announced that Lue departed Intuit Dome and returned home due to back pain.

After shooting 4-of-11 from the field in the first half and just 2-of-9 in the second, Kawhi Leonard appeared to be along for the ride on the offensive side of the ball for much of Sunday night.

James Harden finished as the Clippers’ leading scorer with 29 points to go along with his nine rebounds and 11 assists. From floaters in the lane that tied the game in regulation to the go-ahead three-pointer to start the overtime period, Harden came through in every way for the Clippers on Sunday night.

And then acting head coach Brian Shaw called Kawhi Leonard’s number.

“That last timeout, we’re down one, and we crossed everybody over the top to throw the ball at Kawhi at the free throw line,” Brian Shaw said after the Clippers’ 111-110 victory. “I told him to make sure that he takes the last shot. So win or lose, we’re going to go down having the ball last. Some of the other guys were kind of confused because I think I communicated that Kawhi, but I didn’t communicate it to everybody else. So everybody was waiting for him to do something and he was just holding the ball patiently, got to his spot. I wouldn’t have expected a left hand… whatever you want to call that, but he got it done and I’m happy it went in.”

With Leonard struggling throughout the night and and Harden rolling, Shaw admits that he drew up the play for Leonard with the hopes that the Kings would expect the ball to be in Harden’s hands. That appears be what happened as the entire Kings defense froze on the wings and corners with Leonard at the top of the three-point arc.

“It was tough,” Shaw admitted of drawing up the play for Kawhi Leonard. “I expected that they felt like the ball was going to go to James and he was going to make the play for us down in the end. Like I said, he’d been holding us down pretty much all night. That’s a compliment to James in terms of his selflessness. When I did diagram that play for Kawhi at the end, he didn’t hang his head or give me any bad body language. I think he was confident with Kawhi shooting that shot from his spot. I think that threw them off a little bit as well because Kawhi didn’t have it going. I thought all the shots that he took were good shots, they just didn’t go in. I played the odds that the next one would be going in.”

Leonard’s seventh shot of the night was the dagger in the hearts of the Kings, dropping them to 33-30 on the season and 1.5 games back of the Clippers.

“Big-time players make big time plays,” James Harden said of Leonard’s shot. “He’s done it throughout his entire career. He struggled, but when the time was needed, he stepped up and made a big-time shots. He had a lot of opportunities. We talked about it after the game. He had a lot of opportunities where it’s basically like layups for him, the mid-range jump-shots that he missed, but the confidence don’t change because he puts the work in. For him to step up and hit the game-winner like that shows the confidence and the type of player he is.”

James Harden on Kawhi Leonard's game-winner vs. Kings:

"Big-time players make big time plays. He's done it throughout his entire career. He struggled, but when the time was needed, he stepped up and made a big-time shots." pic.twitter.com/tpK3E46PqT

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 10, 2025

The game-winning buzzer beater was the 10th career shot, regular season or playoffs, that Kawhi Leonard has hit to tie or take the lead with five seconds or fewer remaining on the clock.

“I was just trying to run down the clock and get the last shot,” Kawhi Leonard told reporters after the win. “Brian Shaw wanted me to take the last shot with the time expiring. That’s what was going through my process, trying to get the court organized and was able to do that.

“I pretty much read the defense, got to a spot on the floor and was able to get a shot off.”

Kawhi Leonard on facing Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan late game offense:

"I didn't enjoy it. I loved us scoring the basketball, but those are great players. DeMar getting to his spots and just rising up, knocking down his famous 2-point pull-up. Zach getting into the paint,… pic.twitter.com/0cxOc8JJln

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 10, 2025

The shot gave the Clippers the win, improving their record to 35-29, while also giving them a 3-0 season series lead against a division rival.

For Leonard, who had missed important time in the postseason last year and to start this season, the moment didn’t hold any more significance than the win itself.

“I’m not thinking about that. It’s just one game. My goal is to be healthy at the end of the season so I can have a good summer and not worry about doing a whole rehab process again and missing training camp.”

Kawhi Leonard on sitting almost 2 minutes during overtime:

"I wanted to play. I'm kind of capped on the minutes, but 36 minutes is a lot of minutes. It was about me just wanting to finish that game. They told me they were going to sit me for a minute and bring me back in. I was… pic.twitter.com/yiDo4mkxGw

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 10, 2025

Leonard and the Clippers wrapped up their three-game homestand 3-0 and embark on a three-game road trip that will feature the New Orleans Pelicans, Miami Heat, and Atlanta Hawks.

Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue’s status is uncertain for the trip and will be updated when available. Clippers guard Norman Powell is not expected to available at any point during the trip, and forward Ben Simmons is staying back in Los Angeles to continue rehabbing his injured left knee.

With the Western Conference a tight race to the finish, every game is going to have the feel of a playoff game for Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, and the LA Clippers.

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