10:05am: Leonard has been diagnosed with a right knee sprain and will be out for Game 5, the Clippers announced this morning. There’s no timetable for Kawhi’s return, the team added.
8:13am: The Clippers may be without one of their two All-NBA forwards on Wednesday night, according to Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, who report (via Twitter) that Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss Game 5 vs. the Jazz due to a right knee injury.
Leonard suffered that knee injury in the fourth quarter of Game 4, coming down awkwardly after a drive to the basket and grimacing in apparent pain. He told reporters after the game that he would be “good” going forward.
It seems that may not be the case after all, however. Windhorst tweets that Leonard told teammates on Tuesday night to prepare for him to potentially miss Wednesday’s game. According to Windhorst and Shelburne, Kawhi’s status for the rest of the series beyond Game 5 remains up in the air as well.
We shouldn’t assume Leonard is out for tonight’s game until we get official confirmation — after the Nets ruled out James Harden on Monday for Game 5 of their series, he ended up playing 46 minutes on Tuesday. It’s possible that Kawhi, like Harden, will end up receiving medical clearance to give it a try. For the time being though, that doesn’t seem likely.
If Leonard is unavailable, Paul George would shoulder the brunt of the offensive load for the Clippers, who won consecutive games at home to tie up the series. The Jazz, playing without Mike Conley and with a banged-up Donovan Mitchell, appeared to have lost the momentum in Games 3 and 4, but facing a Kawhi-less team in Utah on Wednesday would put them back in the driver’s seat to advance to the Western Finals.
Leonard, who was named to the All-NBA First Team on Tuesday, has been one of the league’s top performers in the postseason as well. After averaging 32.1 PPG on .612/.425/.898 shooting in the Clippers’ first-round win over Dallas, he has put up 27.3 PPG on .506/.333/.846 shooting in four games vs. the Jazz.
How’s that “load mgmt” working out for the Clippers?
Kawhi didn’t do load management this year. Keep up.
I know you’re new to this. He played in 52 games. I’m not talking about this year. I’m talking about his entire Clippers tenure as a whole. Yes, he played in B2B games but you sound like a casual if you don’t think they sat him out against certain teams. 52 of the possible 72 games. That’s considered load mgmt without them stating it.
Try and keep Keep up rook.
You sound like the bigger casual here, tbh. Just hold an L for once, it wont kill you!
Fair enough I’ll take the L. Just like you do at certain times. We all can agree to disagree.
I don’t think you know the difference between load management and injury. Kawhi sat out because of injury this year. He played in almost every back to back game this year. He and the entire Clippers starting 5 were rested at the end of the season. I’m just saying, don’t comment on something you don’t actually know.
Kawhi missed 20 of 72 RS games, missing 8 times (2.5 games each). “Almost every game”? Or, he’s had 8 knee injuries.
Now after 11 games on, this. Watch the other Clips play better.
Easily, this NBA season has been the worst, in a loooong time.
Tired, sloppy play, injuries, COVID protocols & a Space Jam sequel that no one needs.
Last season was much, much worse. No Curry!
Playoffs were atleast more interesting last year, I’d say this Brooklyn series is the most interesting this year and that shouldn’t be the case.
Mike spitting facts. Space jam should be a dumpster fire, I’ll enjoy seeing it ripped to pieces. Relying on cgi to carry the terrible plot and lebrons awful acting
Whichever team has five guys left wins the “championship.”
So now lets see if Paul george is worth all that money. He needs to carry the team so is he the all star he thinks he is or is he a tag along.
I would take PG13 before Kawhi if I can choose, right?
Bad news but good news is Clippers have a deep bench. guys gotta step up
It not that deep it oh right. Clippers live or die with Kawhi and pg it been proven in the playoffs. I have a hard time seeing the clippers winning without Kawhi
guys will need to step up. they have played this season without them and won. they got guys like Reggie who can explode for 30. same with Morris and Kennard
Regular season and playoffs are two different things . They aren’t playing the kings or cavs here. They are playing the best team in the west. No Kawhi I have a hard time seeing them win
Minimum guys Jackson and Batum start for them, what depth are you talking about?
Doesn’t matter I kind of wanna see suns/hawks Final anyways. So plz clippers lose
PG13 legacy game – lets finally see if he’s real or not.
Just as KD proved last game he is the best player in the league, PG will prove he is pandemic P still
I do not have the same confidence that I had with KD.
Kahwi to GSW comes ever-so closer.
If GSW’s FO can pull off a sign-and-trade with Oubre for Kawhi I will happily never speak ill of them again!
Its not happening. Clippers owner hates the warriors no way he would make them stronger. That is what most people do not understand you don’t trade players to teams in your division unless you get back a huge win. Oubre is not getting you Kahwi. Oubre best could get you a bench player.
I don’t see your point. Didn’t 2019 prove that superteams arent exactly surefire bets? If GSW got Kawhi they would be top-heavy and vulnerable if any injuries happened.
That said, if its a Jazz/Hawks finals then we can bet GSW will get 2 top 10 picks this draft haha
But, my point still stands: “If GSW’s FO can pull off a sign-and-trade with Oubre for Kawhi I will happily never speak ill of them again!” – that’s facts!
He is not coming to GSW. Now they are saying he could have a ACL. Warriors have enough injured player do not need one eating up all that money.
Marty will fly into rages for a new reason.
Clippers just can’t seem to get it right. Or should I say go right for them. This season with no summer league or real preseason to get in real shape. Seems to have affected the season. Never seen one where injuries playing such a major role in playoffs. This is why you can never take opportunities for granted. Bron Lakers did that last yr. This yr seems wide open now. Imagine the Hawks get to Finals …….. ???? crazy huh