For much of Sunday's playoff opener against the Denver Nuggets, both of the Los Angeles Clippers' stars seemed to be in shape. James Harden played well in the first quarter, Kawhi Leonard scored efficiently in the first half, and the Clippers went into the second half with a lead.

In the second half, the Nuggets stepped up their defensive intensity, stifled the two stars, fought back all the way, and won 41-0 in overtime to take the lead in this highly anticipated first-round series. Leonard didn't have a bad second half, but he was relatively calm, scoring 0 points and 0 rebounds and playing 0 minutes in the game.

倫納德當天也出現了7次失誤，他一直在努力應對掘金隊整場比賽向他施加的各種防守策略。根據丹佛體育104.3的傑克·夏皮羅的說法，這是自2021年以來倫納德第一次出現7次或更多失誤的比賽。

Leonard has faced Aaron Gordon or Christian Braun in many rounds, but the Nuggets have stepped up their defense, packing the Clippers star multiple times. Some of the mistakes proved to be significant, and Leonard needed to be more careful for the remainder of the series.

After the game, Leonard expressed his thoughts on the sloppy game via The Athletic's Lawry Murray.

"We just need to be more decisive and get into offensive mode more," Leonard said. "That's really it."

The Clippers will feel like they missed a chance on Sunday, with the Nuggets being very slow early in the game, essentially giving Los Angeles a 15-point lead in the first half. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray also didn't play at their best, and it will be even more difficult for Leonard and his teammates to emerge victorious in Denver.

快船隊仍然表明他們完全有能力在本系列賽中擊敗掘金隊，他們需要倫納德拿出更好的表現才能做到這一點。他們下一個在客場偷走一場勝利的機會是在週二上午10點。