Is Kawhi Leonard playing against the Suns? Latest injury update on Clippers’ star ahead of matchup (16th April 2023)
Kawhi Leonard has not played more than 60 games in an NBA season since the 2016-17 season. In his four seasons with the LA Clippers, he has never played more than 57 games in a season.
The injury to Paul George has put a damper on the Clippers' playoff outlook this year. George suffered a knee sprain on March 21, which he suffered during a matchup against the OKC Thunder. While LA is committed to getting George back as soon as possible, he will at least miss the opening matchup with it looking more likely this will extend throughout the series.
However, the Clippers will have Kawhi Leonard on the court. The two-time NBA champ has been effective during his time on the court. The Clippers are 33-19 in games that Leonard has played this year and will look to build on this going into the playoffs.
Dating back to the 2017 playoffs, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard have been offensive machines when on the floor.
Nearly identical scoring and efficiency during that span: https://t.co/Fc9RLZAwJp
Clippers vs Suns Preview
It won't be an easy task for the Clippers to make a playoff run this year. They face off against the Western Conference favorites, the Phoenix Suns, led by Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Chris Paul.
The Clippers are considered +370 underdogs to win the series, with the Suns having -500 odds to advance. During the opening matchup, the Suns are favored by 7.5 points with LA entering as +250 underdogs.
However, having a healthy Kawhi Leonard is not a factor that should be overlooked. The five-time All-Star has been known to be one of the most dominant playoff performers in the NBA. Highlighted by his championship run with the Toronto Raptors in 2018-19, Leonard has been able to put teams on his back and do whatever is necessary to get wins.
The Clippers will need this type of impressive effort from him for them to have success as a team this year. The superstar duo of Leonard and George did not bring on the success it was hoped they would when they were first put together, although they did make it to the Conference finals during the 2020-21 season where they lost to the Suns.
With the Western Conference still extremely open, and this Suns team having spent such a small amount of time together, they could still be more vulnerable than is given credit. It will take a heroic effort from Kawhi Leonard for this to be the case, but it cannot be ruled out given his history.