Injury Report: John Wall Expected to Make Clippers Debut vs. Trail Blazers

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After understandably resting most of their top talent in Friday's pre-season opener, the LA Clippers are expected to have Kawhi Leonard, John Wall, and Paul George all suit up for Monday's pre-season game against the Portland Trail Blazers.
While he did not mentioned Wall or George specifically, head coach Ty Lue did confirm that Kawhi Leonard will play on Monday. The expectation that both Wall and George will also play stems from Lue's comments that everyone who did not play on Friday will be playing on Monday. For Wall, it looks as if he himself has confirmed that to be the case:
Looks like John Wall himself has confirmed that he will make his return on Monday.
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) October 1, 2022
Kawhi, PG, Wall 🔜 pic.twitter.com/dwhe1t1mwr
With Lue's confirmation that Leonard will be playing, and Wall confirming his return himself, that leaves George as the only member of that trio without a confirmed status for Monday's game. That said, the expectation is that he will play, along with other veterans like Ivica Zubac and Norman Powell who missed the preseason opener.
The NBA pre-season is usually inconsequential, and while the final scores do not matter, these games will serve as an opportunity for players like Kawhi Leonard and John Wall to get their first real action in over a year. While both players have been playing five-on-five in practice, real competition against opponents is hard to replicate, which is why these games could be so important for those two players in particular.
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Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.
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