All indicators level to Kawhi Leonard making his season debut for the Clippers on Saturday evening towards the Atlanta Hawks on the Intuit Dome.
The Clippers listed Leonard as “questionable” for the sport towards the Hawks. Leonard has been out due to a proper knee harm.
The Clippers are “hopeful” that Leonard will play Saturday, however that the crew will “assess him in the morning,” in keeping with an individual with information of the scenario not approved to talk publicly.
When Leonard does return, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue mentioned he could be on a minutes restriction, contemplating he hasn’t performed in an NBA recreation in eight months.
Reporters have been instructed final week that Leonard was going to play 5 on 5 with the Clippers’ G League crew, the San Diego Clippers, throughout a three-game Clippers journey that included a win at New Orleans and losses at San Antonio and at Oklahoma Metropolis.
Lue mentioned Leonard had been making quite a lot of progress throughout his five-on-five follow classes with teammates over the previous few weeks.
Lue mentioned Leonard was “getting more excited” concerning the probabilities of taking part in once more quickly.
“He’s been putting in a lot of work to get to this point,” Lue mentioned just lately. “So, to do five on five with contact was a huge step for him. Like I said, we got to keep doing what we’re doing right now. The medical staff has been great. He’s great at putting in the work. So now we just got to continue to build off of it.”
Leonard had been in a position to take part in full contact practices, however Lue mentioned his star ahead needed to take extra steps to be prepared.
Clippers teammates James Harden, heart left, and Kawhi Leonard share amusing throughout a preseason recreation towards the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 14.
(Jae C. Hong / Related Press)
“He has to play some more five on five,” Lue mentioned final week earlier than the Clippers left on their three-game journey. “So, we got to get all the days we got to get him in, keep stacking the days and see how he fares after that.”
Lue mentioned the five-on-five practices with the San Diego Clippers would give Leonard extra time to check his knee.
Leonard was having a really profitable marketing campaign final season, however he started to expertise knee ache on March 31, after a recreation in Charlotte. He performed 37 minutes and scored 23 factors.
The Clippers flew to Sacramento for the subsequent recreation, however Leonard flew house to relaxation his knee. He didn’t play once more within the common season.
Leonard’s final recreation was on April 26, in Recreation 3 of the Western Convention first spherical towards the Mavericks.
He labored out with USA Basketball in Las Vegas in July, however finally was despatched house and didn’t play within the Olympics.
Leonard averaged a team-best 23.7 factors per recreation final season, 6.1 rebounds and three.5 assists. He shot 52.5% from the sector and 41.7% from three-point vary. He performed in 68 video games, essentially the most he performed in since taking part in in 74 for the Spurs in 2016-17.
The Clippers have a 19-15 report and are the seventh-seeded crew within the aggressive Western Convention.
