The Clippers will be without Kawhi Leonard in Game 5 against the Jazz.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst reports that Leonard, who suffered a knee injury in Game 4 vs. Utah, will be out of action in the series' pivotal Game 5.
Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss Game 5 against the Jazz tonight with a knee injury suffered in game 4, sources tell @ramonashelburne & me. His status for rest of series is in doubt as well.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) June 16, 2021
Later in the day, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Clippers fear that Leonard suffered an ACL injury. And now, he's out indefinitely.
Clippers fear All-NBA star Kawhi Leonard has suffered an ACL injury, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. He is out indefinitely.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 16, 2021
Leonard's injury appeared to happen in the fourth quarter while driving to the hoop. He came up grimacing with a slight limp after the play below and exited the game shortly thereafter.
This is the play where the Kawhi Leonard injury happened. Looks like he buckled his right knee pic.twitter.com/rSfRIieP6V
— walt (Like Lupe Fiasco) (@HoopeFiasco) June 16, 2021
This is an obvious blow to Los Angeles, as Leonard is its top player. So far this postseason, he has averaged a team-high 30.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game while playing his usual brand of stellar defense for the Clippers.
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Without Leonard, the Clippers will have to rely more heavily on Paul George to carry their team against a talented, tough Jazz squad. George has averaged 24.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game this postseason, and he is capable of starring on offense.
However, without Leonard this season, George has averaged 26.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 11 games. Those scoring numbers were improvements on his regular-season numbers (23.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 5.2 apg), but are they significant enough to carry the Clippers past the Jazz? That will be the question.
George will need someone to step up alongside him for Los Angeles to compete with Utah. Whether it's Marcus Morris, Reggie Jackson, Nic Batum or someone else, Tyronn Lue and Los Angeles will need to find the right combination to provide a scoring punch alongside George.
Either way, the Clippers will likely have to survive without Leonard for a while.
And that could spell trouble for their title chances.
