As the Clippers have surged in December, so has Kawhi Leonard, not coincidentally

Three weeks before the Clippers became the NBA's hottest team in December, they left Dallas as its least fitting.

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Their stars had trouble finding roles. A mix-and-match rotation experiment. Their coach noted the loss's final three quarters.

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Four straight looked like “the worst that you can be.” Tyronn Lue's gallows-humorous comment went viral in minutes.

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The Clippers (16-10) are unbeaten in December and more than a quarter through the season. They return to Dallas on Wednesday.

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They've done so by allaying concerns about their roster's fragility and eliminating jokes about how the new roster would fit.

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Point guard James Harden was criticised for calling himself an offensive “system” after his trade, but he played cautiously.

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Harden has returned to being one of the league's best decision-makers with the ball after the Clippers gradually integrated their system into him.

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