LOS ANGELES—Los Angeles Clippers’ standout forward Kawhi Leonard will miss Wednesday night’s fifth game of the team’s tight first-round NBA playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks due to right-knee inflammation.
Leonard was ruled out by Clippers Coach Tyronn Lue on Tuesday. The six-time all-star will sit out for the third time in the series’ five games.
The winner of Wednesday’s game at Crypto.com Arena will take a 3–2 lead in the best-of-7 series.
Leonard missed Game 1 and Game 4 of the series after missing the final eight games of the regular season with right knee pain. Leonard returned to play in the second and third games of the series but managed just 24 points in the two games while failing to make a 3-point field goal and generally not looking sharp.
Surprisingly, the Clippers won both of the games that Leonard missed, while Dallas won both of the games in which Leonard played.
Leonard averaged 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists this season while playing in 68 games, his most since the 2016–17 season with San Antonio. Injuries have repeatedly slowed Leonard in the latter portion of his NBA career, and he has never played a full healthy season since joining the Clippers in 2019.
He missed the entire 2021–22 season after injuring his right knee during the 2021 playoffs and requiring major surgery. The Clippers advanced to their only Western Conference finals in franchise history that spring, but Leonard did not play at all.
