Clippers fans got some bad news as Kawhi Leonard was ruled out for Thursday night’s Game 3 against the Phoenix Suns. As reported by ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk, with additional info by Adrian Wojnarowski, Leonard has a right knee sprain. While it’s not related to Leonard’s past ACL injury, he aggravated the injury in Game 1, and after playing Game 2, he’ll be “day-to-day” for Game 4.
The No. 4 seed Suns and the No. 5 seed Clippers split the first two games of their first-round playoff series. After the Clippers squeaked out a five-point win, the Suns won Game 2 by double digits, despite Leonard’s 31-point performance.
Many took notice of the Clippers’ star player missing such a pivotal game.
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https://twitter.com/TheGSRealism/status/1649137916935823360?s=20
The silver lining is that, at the moment, Leonard is just out for Game 3. It’s not ideal, but it’s not catastrophic. That said, this gives the Suns a monumental opportunity to capitalize and go out to a 2-1 lead while they’re in Los Angeles.
If the Suns win Game 3, the Clippers will hope to have Leonard back for Game 4 and catch up. If the Clippers pull off the win in Game 3, they’ll not only hope to have Leonard back after a few days rest, they’ll have the momentum going into the final few games.
About Phillip Bupp
Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.
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