Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will be active for Saturday’s rematch with the Mavericks after playing 24 minutes in Friday’s win over Dallas, according to Mark Medina of Sportskeeda (Twitter link). Leonard is likely to be on a restriction of about 25-30 minutes, adds Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link).
This marks the first back-to-back of the season for Leonard, which is a significant development, especially so close to the playoffs. It’s a sign that the Clippers are fully confident in the state of his right knee, which required an offseason surgical procedure that kept Leonard out of action until early January.
“Kawhi has trying to do it for some time now, playing in back to backs, but our medical staff has been very cautious with making sure everything is right,” coach Tyronn Lue told reporters.
L.A. cruised to a 114-91 victory on Friday, so Leonard and the rest of the starters didn’t have to play heavy minutes. He was the team’s leading scorer with 20 points, making 8-of-17 shots from the field, while adding six assists and two rebounds.
Leonard has been expanding his workload lately, playing 38 minutes Wednesday against New Orleans, 39 minutes Monday at Orlando and 41 minutes March 26 at New York. The Clippers have won the last five games with him in the lineup.
Injuries have been a major part of Leonard’s story over the past decade, especially in the playoffs. He was only able to appear in two postseason games last year before being sidelined by knee inflammation, which eventually led to the surgery.
The Clippers will need him as much as possible down the stretch, as they’re locked in an intense battle for playoff positioning. L.A. entered the night in a three-way tie with Minnesota and Memphis for sixth place in the West and could potentially finish anywhere from third to eighth.
Less a sign that they have confidence in his knee and more a sign they dont want to be the 8th seed…
Chap, that sounds right.
Can we please get your odds on Kahwi’s playoff availability, including:
– available for game 1 of playoffs?
– available for an entire series?
– plays in multiple series?
Who knows I mean he looked awesome till he tore his ACL in 21
The first round has lots of multi day breaks between games after that its every other day the whole rest of the way
Yeah, not to knock the guy but a lot of times big money will help a man step back in urgency and effort.
As a young guy, you’re out to prove yourself but Kahwi’s won rings and MVP’s and he has nothing to prove anymore.
That happens way too much Gary. I always think of Samuel Dalembert getting paid then losing all his production. As soon as they get that bag they stop trying hard. Not all but alot
I always seem to remember the star first baseman of 10 or 15 years ago when discussing this subject.
Miggy, Mark Teixeira, Adrian Gonzalez, and a few others.
Before they got the bag, they were .330 hitters 40 home runs etc.
After the bag, they became .260 hitters.
Why? They did the same workouts, had the same approach, Weren’t injured, etc.
I just think the money takes the desperation out of the equation. Takes the urgency to perform away from the heart. Still nice players but nothing like they were.
Huh? Miggy hit .313, .338 and .316 the three years after getting his big contract in 2014.
Good catch. I appreciate it.
Don’t worry. He will bump his elbow in the training room and be out for the rest of the season.
He doesn’t love basketball and has no heart, which is fine but stop paying him like he does.