During Game 4, the Los Angeles Clippers registered a 116-111 win over the Dallas Mavericks on the back of Paul George and James Harden’s 33 points each. While they led by 31 points at one time in the game, Kyrie Irving willed his Mavs to erase the deficit, only for the Clippers to have a strong finish and snatch the game. The PG-Beard duo took care of the business even without Kawhi Leonard. He has been dealing with persistent knee issues and has missed two of the last four games. Will he be available for the crucial Game 5 battle?
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As per the latest injury report, Leonard has been ruled ‘Out’ due to right knee inflammation. The issue has been bothering him since late March and he has missed 11 games since the beginning of April, including the two postseason contests against the Mavericks. During Game 3, he played just 25 minutes and looked out-of-sync throughout the game, uncharacteristically committing 4 turnovers.
Kawhi Leonard is the only player on the Clippers’ injury report. He remains OUT with right knee inflammation with no timeline to return.
Everyone else should be good to go. https://t.co/Y909mkmA6S
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) May 1, 2024
The knee inflammation issue stemmed from the Claw’s surgery on the right knee owing to his multiple injuries in the area. After lodging 68 games during the 2023-24 regular season, his knee burned out, paving the way for the inflammation. However, will the Clippers fans mind his absence?
Is not having the Claw a blessing in disguise?
The Clippers have won both games without Leonard and lost both contests when he was available. The offense had looked disjointed with the 2x Finals MVP. The Mavs scored 93 and 90 points in Game 2 and Game 3, respectively, with the two-way Wing. However, without him, they scored 116 and 109 points in Game 4 and Game 1 respectively.
One huge blessing for the Clippers has been the play of James Harden. The Beard has put up 26 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 1 steal per game in the four playoff games thus far, per StatMuse. He has nailed 4.3 triples per game on an impressive 50% shooting from the floor. Thus, the 2018 MVP has upped his game to help his team keep Doncic and Co. at bay. PG-13 also has been incredible in the post-season.
However, it is premature to write off the duo of Irving and Doncic. They erased a 31-point lead in the last game and have shown the fire to bounce back. At any rate, the Clippers have shut down many of their doubters thus far and this series can go either side from here.
