Fans noticed a common denominator in Kawhi Leonard’s scoring outbursts over the past week.
The Los Angeles Clippers star went off for a career-high 55 points Sunday in a 112-99 drubbing of the Detroit Pistons at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. The game wasn’t nearly as close as the score made it seem, with the Clippers leading by as many as 26 points in a wire-to-wire win.
Leonard’s offensive eruption buried the East’s No. 1 seed, whose defenders could do nothing to slow down the man known as “The Klaw.” Aside from the double nickel, Leonard also tallied 11 rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 blocks in an all-around performance.
Kawhi Leonard CAREER NIGHT 😤
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 29, 2025
55 PTS
11 REB
5 STL
3 BLK
17-26 FG
Clippers have won 4 straight 👀 pic.twitter.com/ZvfzKfHnB5
While the Pistons threw multiple defenders at Leonard, Ausar Thompson was Detroit’s best bet at guarding the Clippers star. The hyper-athletic Thompson entered the game widely considered as a defensive stalwart, but could do nothing to stop Kawhi.
Leonard’s 55-point game came just days after he scored 41 points on the Houston Rockets. Astute fans began to notice that Leonard’s scoring explosions both occurred against a Thompson twin. The Rockets deployed Ausar’s brother, Amen Thompson, against Leonard, but to no avail.
Kawhi Leonard in the last two weeks:
— APHoops (@APH00PS) December 29, 2025
41 points on 69.6% shooting vs. Amen Thompson
55 points on 65.4% shooting vs. Ausar Thompson pic.twitter.com/1oQ53le7N6
Kawhi just gave the Thompson twins 96 points this week #damn
— Ash ™️ (@ash4nd1021) December 29, 2025
It’s only fair that Kawhi cooked Ausar Thompson liked this after he did Amen Thompson the same way the other day.
— Marcus Richardson (@MarcusRich99) December 29, 2025
Leonard’s scoring display Sunday was his first time eclipsing the 50-point mark, and the 10th time in his career scoring at least 40 points.
A fifth of those 40+ performances have now come against at least one Thompson twin.
Ausar and Amen Thompson are considered among the best perimeter defenders in the league since prime Leonard was lurking on the wing for the Spurs. But neither twin can put points on the board like Kawhi can on the other end.
