Kawhi Leonard missed game four of the series against the Mavs on Sunday after playing with visible discomfort in games two and three. The franchise president, Lawrence Frank, announced before game four that Leonard will be out indefinitely.
Since his ACL surgery in 2022, Kawhi Leonard has struggled with fitness and that continued this season as well. Talking about the injury, Clippers HC Ty Lue said, “It’s definitely devastating for Kawhi, all the work he’s put in this year and the amount of games he’s played and worked hard to get to this point, to the place he wants to be in the playoffs.”
He further added, “And then to be hurt and not be able to be 100% and play the way he’s capable of playing. I feel bad for him.” As pointed out by Lue, Leonard played the most number of regular season games this term since 2017. He missed out the last part of the season due to right knee inflammation and the swelling on his knee has now put a question mark over his participation in the series and even in the postseason if the Clippers progress to the next round.
The two-time NBA championship winner has averaged 23.7 points per game this season while shooting 52.5% from the field and 41.7% from beyond the arc. Without Leonard, the LA franchise restored parity in the series on Sunday and will look to continue similarly till Leonard is available again.
Clippers Even Series Without Kawhi Leonard
After taking the lead in game one, the Clippers fell behind when the Mavs won back-to-back games in the series. On Sunday, the series was tied again thanks to Paul George and James Harden.
The Clippers won 116-111 at the American Airlines Center, but Kyrie Irving’s game-high 40 points almost snatched the game from them. After coming out strong in the opening quarter, the Dallas team dominated proceedings in the next two quarters. In the end, the game was secured, but the Clippers will need to keep hold of games better than what they did on Sunday night.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NBA stories via Google! Follow Us
Paul George went 7-10 from the 3-point range, scoring 33 along with 6 rebounds and 8 assists. James Harden also scored the same number of points by scoring 4 out of his 5 3 PTS attempts. The Beard handed out 7 assists and gobbled up 6 rebounds in the process.
Game five of the series will be played on Wednesday, and as things stand, the Clippers might go well without Kawhi Leonard.
