Clippers' Kawhi Leonard to miss 3rd…
Clippers' Kawhi Leonard to miss 3rd consecutive game
Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will miss tonight's game against Oklahoma City with a left knee contusion that he apparently sustained in the second half of a loss in Houston last Wednesday. He had missed two prior games due to load management. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
By Mirjam Swanson | mswanson@scng.com | Southern California News Group
LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard will miss Monday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. The All-Star forward is sidelined for the third consecutive game with a left knee contusion that he apparently sustained in the second half of the team's loss in Houston last Wednesday.
Starting guard Patrick Beverley was back in the lineup after missing two games with a sore left calf, Rivers added.
Leonard – who had missed two prior games due to load management related to an ongoing injury to the patella tendon in his left knee – played 41 minutes against the Rockets, finishing with 26 points on 10-of-24 shooting, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Rivers said there aren't any long-term concerns about the injury, and that the two-time NBA Finals MVP was "very close" to playing Monday and could be in the lineup – alongside fellow All-Star Paul George for the first time, possibly – Wednesday when the Clippers host the Boston Celtics.
Rivers said neither he nor the team are overly anxious awaiting the much-anticipated pairing to actually transpire.
"I just know it's gonna happen, I have confidence in that," Rivers said. "You knew at the beginning of the year (when George was sidelined following shoulder surgeries) this is how it would be. So it's funny, I don't think one coach, not one guy, has even thought about it, that it'd be nice to have everybody out there."
A healthy George is helping the Clippers, characterized Monday by Rivers as "a team trying to find itself each night," adjust to playing without Leonard, who will have missed five of the first 14 games.
George's 70 points in his first 45 minutes of play (over two games, in which the Clippers are 1-1) are an NBA record.
"What I see, every time you see (George): 'Man, when you put those two together, we could be pretty good.' That's what you see," Rivers said.
OK REUNION
Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan said he's not the least bit surprised by how swiftly George has come out of the gates after being cleared following offseason shoulder surgeries – nor is he surprised that George jumped at the opportunity to take his talents home to Southern California.
"Paul's a great player, I had a chance to see that first-hand for a lot of games last year for us," Donovan said Sunday after practice, when his team prepared to match up with the former Thunder star for the first time since this summer's bombshell trade that sent him to L.A. for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and an unprecedented collection of draft picks.
"I'm happy for Paul because I know how important his family is to him. … His mom and dad are great, I've got the chance to meet them, his uncles and his aunts, he's got an incredible family and they're all based here in California. All these guys' careers, even if a guy plays 15 years, in reality, it seems like a lot of time, but in the time of your life, it's like a fraction of it. And I think for him to be able to share this point in time in his career with his family is a great thing because they're such good people.
"He's always been a terrific player," Donovan added, with a nod to George's MVP candidacy last season before the shoulder injuries limited him late in the season. "I felt bad for him last year just because he had such an incredible first 50, 60 games going into the All-Star break … He just probably wasn't himself (after that) with the shoulder injuries that he had – and he played through all that stuff. He missed a couple games here and there, but it speaks to his greatness as a player.
"I'm happy he's back and he's healthy."
Doc on Kawhi's injury: It is what it is. Hes not too anxious about getting Kawhi and PG on the court together. "It'll happen." pic.twitter.com/7jX5YETGe4
— Mirjam Swanson (@MirjamSwanson) November 19, 2019
OCVarsity's Future 50 for the 2021 Orange County North-South All-Star Classic
Mirjam Swanson
Mirjam Swanson covers the Clippers, the NBA and the LA Sparks for the Southern California News Group. Previously, she wrote about LeBron James and the rest of the Dream Team at the 2004 Olympics (where, yes, they took bronze), Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open on one leg, and had a tour reporting on city government, education and the occasional bear in a backyard.
Follow Mirjam Swanson	@MirjamSwanson
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