Suns-Clippers Game 3 Injury Report: Kawhi Leonard Out

Who: Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Clippers
What: NBA Playoffs, first round, Game 3
When: Thursday, April 20 at 7:30 PM PST
Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
Spread: Clippers -1.5

Phoenix Suns Injury Report

Cameron Payne (lower back soreness) QUESTIONABLE

*Chris Paul appeared to have suffered a hand injury in Game 2 but reportedly had x-rays come back negative and is not listed on the injury report. He should be good to go*

Los Angeles Clippers Injury Report

Paul George (knee) OUT

Kawhi Leonard (knee sprain) OUT

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski says, "Leonard aggravated knee in Game 1, played through it in Game 2 and is expected to be day-to-day ahead of Game 4 on Saturday, source tells ESPN. Injury isn't related to his previous ACL injury."

Quick Game Preview

The Phoenix Suns were able to snag a win in Game 2 to ensure the series was level heading back to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4. After slipping in their opener, the Suns relied heavily on their starters as each of Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Devin Booker played 38 or more minutes of action.

When asked what the difference was between Games 1 and 2, Clippers head coach Ty Lue responded with:

“Booker. Booker, KD and CP. They did a good job of just controlling the game and like I said in that second half and fourth quarter they really took over.

"We tried to blitz, we tried to fire, we did a lot of different things, like I said, they played great. I was just proud of our guys because we weren’t satisfied coming in and just winning one game. I thought our guys scrapped, gave everything we had. We missed some shots, you know and had a couple of key turnovers but other than that we came in with the mindset that we wanted to win this game, so that’s all you can really ask for.

"There’s some things we’ve got to clean up before the next game and we’ll ready. But like I said, they were down 1-0, at home and their guys came to play tonight and they had a great game.”

Much has been made about LA's advantage when it comes to bench play - the Suns have only gotten 23 combined points from their bench in the first two games.

Many question if the Suns can carry over their tremendous shooting performance from Tuesday, as they converted 60% of their field goals and 41.7% from three-point land.

The key to getting back on track was securing the rebound battle, according to Suns head coach Monty Williams.

“I think again, anytime we rebound the ball like we rebounded tonight - everyone who won the rebound battle has won the game," Williams said following the Game 2 win.

"When we rebound like that, we can get it to either one of those guys and now as I have said before, our best offense is a defensive stop. When Book (Devin Booker) is going downhill like that, he is hard to guard.”

Kawhi Leonard dropped back-to-back 30+ point performances in Phoenix. Russell Westbrook has also factored in a major way for Los Angeles while Paul George remains out.

The Clippers have a 67.8% chance to win tonight, according to ESPN's basketball power index.