PHOENIX — Before the regular-season finale for the LA Clippers and the Phoenix Suns, Kawhi Leonard took his place on the court at Footprint Center at his usual time, exactly two hours before tip off. The Clippers knew that if they beat the Suns on Easter Sunday, they would be right back in Arizona the following weekend for a Game 1 against the Suns.

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As Leonard warmed up on his side, Kevin Durant warmed up on the other. The difference for the two: Leonard had to play on the second game of a back-to-back to help his team clinch a playoff spot, a task made harder by the knee injury to Leonard’s co-star Paul George. Durant’s Suns had already locked up the four seed five days earlier — he and his other co-stars, Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton, were all inactive due to rest.

Not today

But possibly 🔜

Kawhi Leonard x Kevin Durant♨️ pic.twitter.com/gd760qlMQm

— Law Murray ❎️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) April 9, 2023

The Clippers beat the Suns in the regular-season finale to secure the fifth seed in the Western Conference. As Leonard got dressed to speak with the media after the game, he wondered when was the last time he even faced Durant in the same game.

It had been a while. In the regular season, Leonard and Durant hadn’t faced off since a Clippers road game against the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 2, 2021, with Leonard outscoring Durant 33-28 but Durant’s Nets winning a game that featured Paul George, Kyrie Irving and James Harden.

In the postseason, Leonard and Durant hadn’t met since Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, when Durant tore his Achilles tendon in his last game with the Golden State Warriors, and Leonard’s last home game with the Toronto Raptors.

And the last time Leonard and Durant saw each other in a Game 1 of a postseason series was in the 2017 Western Conference finals. That was Leonard’s final postseason appearance with the San Antonio Spurs, as he had a 26-point effort cut short by Golden State center Zaza Pachulia’s landing-space foul that aggravated Leonard’s previously sprained left ankle. Leonard was knocked out of a game where the Spurs led by 23 points at the time of Leonard’s injury in the third quarter, and Durant’s Warriors ultimately won Game 1 and swept the Spurs.

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“He’s a great player,” Leonard said of Durant later in the week, ahead of Game 1. “These are the fun parts of it. Just going out there, getting to compete against a guy like him that’s been doing it year after year.”

The Suns were 8-0 with Durant in the lineup. But Leonard got the best of Durant individually, outscoring the fellow two-time NBA Finals MVP 38-27 in a 115-110 win. This was Leonard’s first postseason game since injuring his ACL in his right knee during Game 4 of the 2021 Western Conference semifinals, and Leonard put up high volume and high efficiency, making 13 of 24 shots in a team-high 41:33.

“I thought he got a little winded when he first came out in the fourth quarter,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said after Leonard’s Game 1 workload. “Around the 10-minute mark on the free-throw line, he was a little tired. So we got him out for three minutes and brought him back, and he said he was ready to go. That’s what we’ve been saving up for, this moment here in the playoffs. We have to play heavy minutes, especially with PG being out, being short-handed. He was great tonight.”

Despite Leonard’s fatigue, he got better as the game went on, giving the Suns something different along the way.

In the first quarter, Leonard did not take his first shot until after the seven-minute mark. By that point, Leonard had assisted Eric Gordon and Nicolas Batum. But Leonard made sure to get to his spot in the paint to rise over Torrey Craig.

Leonard made all three of his first-quarter field goal attempts while splitting a pair of free throws for seven first-quarter points. Durant did not score in the first quarter, missing all four field-goal attempts, contributing to a 12-point hole that Phoenix found itself in.

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Durant found his rhythm in the second quarter, using the free-throw line to score eight of his 17 points to help Phoenix trim a 16-point Clippers lead to a 59-54 Clippers halftime lead. A key to Durant’s success was playing faster and being opportunistic, even when he wasn’t fouled. One example was when Leonard attempted his first shot of the game in Durant’s coverage, a pull-up 3. In what was his first attempt in almost nine minutes of game time, Leonard’s shot missed. Eight seconds later, Durant attacked Leonard in transition to score at the rim.

The game threatened to get completely away from the Clippers in the third quarter. Durant did not take a single shot in what was another scoreless quarter for him. But with Leonard taking on the Durant assignment to begin the third quarter, Durant settled into a playmaker role, finding his teammates for six assists without a turnover. Craig scored seven of his game-high 11 third-quarter points off of Durant dimes, including this play after screening Leonard.

“I mean, we know CP, we know Book and we know KD, what they can do, and Craig has been playing great; nothing to take away from him,” Lue said of Craig’s 22-point performance. “We want him taking more shots. You know, just try to keep the ball out of KD’s and Book’s hands.”

The Clippers absorbed a 25-point turnaround from the 10-minute mark of the second quarter to the 4:30 mark of the third quarter. During that time, Durant outscored Leonard 17-13 as a 16-point Clippers lead turned into a nine-point Phoenix lead.

But for the last 16:30 of the game, Leonard outscored Durant 18-10. That’s when the dueling was at its most intense. The fourth quarter began with Durant on Leonard, and Leonard scored on a fadeaway through a Durant foul.

Durant answered with a 3 following a Jock Landale offensive rebound, but Leonard scored a game-high 13 fourth-quarter points in all to Durant’s 10 fourth-quarter points. After Leonard stepped through Booker for a bucket in the paint with 6:25 to play, the Clippers never trailed again.

“He’s a tough cover, and he could score from all areas,” Durant said of Leonard after Game 1. “He was making shots there in the second half and made some big 3s there in the fourth quarter. Just an all-time player, so we got to continue to be physical and deny his catches and make it as tough as we can on him.”

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Leonard knows there is more work to do. The Clippers are trying to win a series, not just one game. But Leonard also acknowledged that it is special to play against Durant again, finally. And it is even more special to see both players dueling on a postseason stage.

“It’s great, he’s an all-time player right there,” Leonard said of his battle with Durant. “That’s what it’s about. You have an opportunity to play great, and you just want the opportunity. If it’s win, lose or draw, it’s about giving your best out there, and you’re able to play against the best. Just got to keep having fun with it. I mean, it’s good. It’s playoff basketball.”

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(Photo of Kawhi Leonard after he was fouled by Kevin Durant: Matt York / Associated Press)