Kawhi Leonard hasn’t performed basketball with contact in 23 days. He’ll be again on the court docket for Sport 2 anyway.
Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue introduced that Leonard had “checked each field” in his restoration from proper knee irritation which has sidelined him since March 31. He’ll begin Sport 2 towards the Dallas Mavericks, who path 1-0 after dropping to the Clippers with out Leonard.
Leonard has struggled along with his well being in latest postseasons with the Clippers. In 2021, Leonard tore his ACL within the second spherical of the playoffs, and missed the remainder of the postseason and the next common season. Final 12 months, he tore his meniscus within the first spherical, sitting out after two video games.
This season has been his healthiest in years, with Leonard taking part in 68 video games, his most since 2016-17. So it made sense that the Clippers and Leonard would have been cautious bringing him again.
What’s attention-grabbing about that is Leonard may have no minutes restriction. That is typically been the Clippers’ angle towards Leonard’s accidents — he lets Lue is aware of when he is capable of play.
This is not excellent news for the Mavericks. Head coach Jason Kidd informed reporters, “He’s received to be accounted for on either side of the ball. It doesn’t matter how lengthy he’s been out. If he’s taking part in, he’s able to go.”
The Mavericks must bounce again to even the collection. And so they’ll should do it towards among the finest playoff performers within the league.
