Los Angeles Clippers fans get good news from Kawhi Leonard ahead of the back-to-back.
The Los Angeles Clippers got some good news from Kawhi Leonard as they head into a back-to-back.
Leonard said he would play in the back-to-back contests against the Miami Heat on Monday and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday. “There’s no restrictions on me," said Leonard.
Leonard has played in all five games for the Clippers this season, averaging 32 minutes per game, 23.8 points, six rebounds, and 34 assists.
The Clippers have made a habit of sitting Leonard out in back-to-back games in the name of "load management," given his injury history, but Leonard did play in a back-to-back situation against the Dallas Mavericks on April 4th and 5th at the end of the 2024-25 season.
Leonard has dealt with a multitude of injuries throughout his career, notably knee issues.
He suffered a right quadriceps injury in 2017-18 that caused him to miss most of that season, a partially torn right ACL that kept him out the entire 2021-22 season, and a right meniscus tear that led to him missing the rest of the 2023 playoffs.
Furthermore, right knee inflammation that limited the end of his 2023-24 season caused him to miss playoff games against the Dallas Mavericks and kept him sidelined for the first 34 games of the 2024-25 season.
The Clippers have a total of 15 back-to-back games this season. The November 4th game against the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder will be a nationally televised showdown on NBC/Peacock.
Kawhi Leonard Coming Off Best Game Of The Season
With Leonard having his first healthy offseason in a while, he's off to a good start, leading the Clippers to a 3-2 record.
The last time Leonard was on the floor, he hit the game-winning shot against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. With time winding down in a tie game, Leonard got the ball on the wing on a dribble handoff, pump faked to get two defenders biting, and then rose up to swish the game-winner as the buzzer sounded.
Leonard finished the contest with 34 points, five rebounds, five assists, and six steals.
The game-winner was much needed for the Clippers, as the Pelicans are winless early in the season, and the Clippers turned in a dismal offensive performance in their prior game against the Golden State Warriors. The Clippers were held to just 79 points in the contest. Leonard finished with 18 points on 7-17 shooting.