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The Los Angeles Clippers have been impressive this season with a record of 18-13, placing them fifth in the competitive Western Conference. Their success can be attributed to their strong defense, ranked in the top five in the league, as well as the effective scoring prowess of players like James Harden and Norman Powell. These key factors have propelled the Clippers to victory in many games.

They will get Kawhi Leonard back in a week if everything goes according to plan. Leonard has been back practicing with the team since Dec. 18, and his target return date is Jan. 4,

reports Law Murray of the Athletic

Here is what

coach Tyronn Lue said about Leonard

"I mean, it's hard to get those [5x5 practice] days because we have three games and four nights coming up. So he won't travel, he won't go on the trip, and so he'll stay back, and he'll practice with our G league team, to be able to get those reps in, and to get those 5x5 games in...

"He doesn't like to play 5x5 a lot outside of the games, but this is very important to the medical staff, to Lawrence [Frank, team president], to our group as well, just making sure he's getting the right amount of reps, making sure he's doing everything, so this isn't a recurring thing, so we can kind of monitor the fluid and see how it's working. So so far, it's been really good."

That Clippers road trip is back-to-back Monday and Tuesday at New Orleans and San Antonio, followed by facing Oklahoma City on Thursday.

If the Clippers get the Leonard we saw last season, they become much more dangerous. That Leonard was a Second Team All-NBA player who averaged 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals a night, shot 41.7% on 3-pointers (62.6% true shooting) and played high-level defense. That Leonard next to Harden should boost the Clippers' bottom 10 offense and make them that much more dangerous.