Kawhi Leonard's Injury Status for Clippers vs. Bulls

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LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard left Tuesday night's game vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves with thoracic spasms and did not return.
Following the game, Clippers head coach Ty Lue said, "He's been dealing with it for a couple days. Back spasms. Wasn't sure if he was gonna go this morning, but he came to shoot around, got some treatment, did what he had to do to try to get on the court and play today, and it just didn't loosen up for him."
Leonard traveled with the Clippers on their two game road trip that begins in Chicago on Thursday night, and will play vs. the Bulls after being upgraded from questionable to available. A final status on Leonard was revealed by Lue when he addressed the media pregame.
This game against the Bulls is the front half of a back-to-back for the Clippers, as they will take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night. The Pelicans are just 2.5 games back of LA in the Western Conference standings, making that a big game for both teams.
The Clippers will have to find a balance between optimizing seeding and keeping their stars healthy between now and the end of the regular season, as all three of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and James Harden have been dealing with different minor issues that they have played through.
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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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