The team announced that Kawhi Leonard will not play in Game 4 of the Los Angeles Clippers’ first-round series against the Phoenix Suns on Saturday due to a knee sprain. Leonard was initially injured in Game 1 and survived it in Game 2, but was unable to win in Game 3 by the Clippers.
Clippers president Lawrence Frank told reporters ahead of Game 3 that Leonard “extremely disappointed” that he would not be able to dress, but did not elaborate on the severity of his injury.
It remains unclear exactly when Leonard’s knee condition worsened, as he never went to the dressing room and played over 80 minutes in total in games 1 and 2. The Clippers writer beat Lo Murray, who suggested this game from the third quarter of game 1, which was similar to the episode in which Leonard tore his cruciate ligament in the 2021 playoffs. But, again, this is just a guess.
Leonard missed the entire 2021-22 season to rebuild his knee and managed it all season. He missed 20 of the Clippers’ first 27 games, and the only time he played more than five games in a row was when he played six in a row on either side of the All-Star break.
The plan seemed to work perfectly. Leonard was amazing in the regular season when he actually played, averaging 23.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists on 51.2/41.6/87.1 shooting. This trend continued in the first two games of the series as Leonard combined 69 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists and four steals on 24 of 44 from the field to help the Clippers steal home court advantage.
This new injury is not related to an ACL tear, Wojnarowski said, although both injuries occurred in his right knee.
Before this series began, the Clippers were already without Paul George, who sprained his knee during a March 21 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. While he is on his way back and has resumed activities on the court, According to Wojnarowski, he should not play in the first round..
George’s absence made the Clippers a significant underdog against the powerful Suns led by Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, but after the Clippers earned a split in Date, the Clippers had some hope. Now it has been considerably depleted by the news of Leonard. There is still a long way to go in this series, but the Clippers are again seriously out of luck in the playoffs.
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