Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard reportedly will not travel with the team to Phoenix and will instead to continue rehabbing a knee injury at home, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
The specific nature of Leonard’s knee injury has not been confirmed by the Clippers at this time. Initially believed to be a right knee sprain, subsequent reporting has suggested the injury may be to Leonard’s ACL.
The two-time Finals MVP remains out indefinitely and whether he is able to play at all in the conference finals against the Phoenix Suns is not known.
Leonard, who missed Game 5 and 6 of the Clippers’ series against the Utah Jazz, appeared to sustain the injury with about 5:20 left in Game 4, when he was fouled on a drive by the Jazz’s Bojan Bogdanovic. Leonard was dribbling into the lane when he was bumped, and his right knee appeared to buckle slightly. He grimaced in some discomfort, missed the two free throws that were awarded following the foul, but remained in the game for 45 more seconds.
He checked out with 4:35 remaining as the Clippers led by 16 points.
[snippet id=4931508]
Leonard is averaging 30.4 points on 57 per cent shooting in the post-season.
The Clippers were 11-9 without the 29-year-old during the regular season.
Game 1 between the Clippers and Suns takes place tomorrow, June 20, at 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT on SN1.
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.