Kawhi Leonard He will miss his second straight game on Saturday due to a sprained right knee The Clippers officially ruled him out of Game 4 of their first-round series against Phoenix, according to Shams Al-Shaaraniyyah from the athlete.
Leonard It said He picked up the injury in the first game, but was able to play through it in the first two games of the series. However, he was ruled out of Game 3 on Thursday, which the Clippers ended up losing to trail in the series 2-1, and will now miss Game 4 as well.
according to John Hollinger From The Athletic, there was optimism that Leonard might be able to return on Saturday, but it’s clear the team decided to play it safe with their MVP. As Hollinger notes, the star forward will get several days of extra rest — Game 5 is set for Monday in Phoenix.
Leonard was dominant through two games, averaging 34.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals on 0.545/.600/0.882 shooting in 40.2 minutes. Norman Powell (42 points of 15-of-23, five rebounds, three assists) and Russell Westbrook (30 points on 11-of-23, 12 assists, eight rebounds, three steals) had a great performance in his absence Thursday, but the shorthanded Clippers — who were already playing without Paul George Due to a sprained right knee – lost final score 129-124.
Coach Tyronn Lue went with an unconventional five-guard lineup in the fourth quarter of Game 3 (Powell, Westbrook, Eric GordonAnd Terrence Man And Hyland Bones), and while the group had great success in attacking, they were unable to slow down Devin Booker And the defensive rebound was a struggle. It will be interesting to see Lue if he uses another extreme small ball combo or changes up the lineup further for Game 4 with Leonard sidelined again.