Latest Updates Surrounding Kawhi Leonard's Knee Injury
With Paul George and Kawhi Leonard healthy, the Los Angeles Clippers are one of the better teams in the Western Conference, but the problem for this franchise has been that their two stars have not been healthy at the same time.
The Clippers looked like they were going to be fine without George, who is out due to a knee sprain, after winning one of their first two playoff games on the road against the Phoenix Suns, but Leonard has missed the team's last two games due to a right knee sprain and the Clippers are suddenly down 3-1 to the Suns in this series.
Missing Game 3 and Game 4 at home, Los Angeles went from being in the driver's seat in this series to now facing elimination with Kawhi Leonard's status still being up-in-the-air.
Whether or not Kawhi will play in Game 5 in Phoenix on Tuesday is a hot topic of discussion around the NBA right now and Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue was asked about this possibility on Monday.
"He's definitely hurt. It's not load management where he's taking time off you know," Lue told reporters on Monday, per Tomer Azarly. "He's shown in his past that he's played through injuries in the playoffs. If it's something he can't play through, then it has to be pretty serious."
Leonard did not practice with the team on Monday and continued to get treatment for his right knee injury. The Clippers have not yet ruled him out for Game 5 on Tuesday night, leaving his status very questionable at this point.
Ty Lue did mention that it is always a "possibility" that Leonard lays in Game 5, but he declined to elaborate any further on his star's status.
Playing in both Game 1 and Game 2 in Phoenix, Leonard logged 42 minutes and 39 minutes for the Clippers. He also scored a combined 69 points on 54.5 percent shooting, 60.0 percent from three-point range.
The good news for Kawhi Leonard and Los Angeles is that this right knee injury he is currently dealing with is not related to the torn right ACL injury that sidelined him for the entirety of the 2021-22 season. As things stand right now, Leonard is pretty much "day-to-day" and the Clippers are monitoring how he responds to treatment.
"Now it's a very different looking offense, but we got older players. We've got guys who have played different systems, so you can make the most of it," center Mason Plumlee said in regards to Leonard missing games. "We have enough. We have enough to go win, we have enough to win the whole series. We just have to go get one in Phoenix and go from there."
The Clippers have not yet revealed their injury report ahead of Game 5 in Phoenix, but Kawhi Leonard, is expected to be listed as "questionable" with the team making a final decision leading up to Tuesday night's game.
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