Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard will miss at least Game 5 of the conference semifinals with a knee sprain, the latest of many injuries in these NBA playoffs that blew up LeBron James on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the Clippers said in a brief statement that “Leonard sprained his right knee in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Utah Jazz.”
“It will be low for the fifth game. There is no date for their return ”, concluded the text.
The 29-year-old forward twisted his knee on a basket tackle late in Game 4 on Monday. After the crash, Leonard did not want to give details about his condition.
“I’m fine,” he just said.
According to The Athletic, the Clippers fear that their star suffers an anterior cruciate ligament injury that could divert him from the courts beyond the series against Utah.
Leonard’s absence is a huge setback for the Clippers, who had achieved two consecutive victories in Los Angeles with which they tied 2-2 in this Western semifinal.
The series returned to Utah this Wednesday and on Friday the sixth game is played again in Los Angeles. If necessary, a seventh game will be played on Sunday in Utah.
Winner of two rings and member of the best quintet of the season, Leonard averages 27.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game in this tie and surpassed 30 points in the last two games in Los Angeles (34 and 31).
– “It’s crazy” –
Shortly after Leonard’s injury became known, LeBron James posted a series of energetic tweets charging against the intense schedule this season and blaming him for the injuries of numerous stars in these playoffs.
“They didn’t want to hear from me about the start of the season. I knew exactly what was going to happen. I just wanted to protect the well-being of the players, ”the Los Angeles Lakers superstar wrote.
“These injuries are not just ‘PART OF THE GAME’. It is the lack of PURE REST before starting again. Eight, possibly nine, All-Stars have missed playoff games (the most in league history), ”cried ‘King James’.
“This is the best time of year for our league and our fans, but a lot of our favorite players are missing. It’s crazy ”, he stressed.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, which wreaked havoc on the NBA schedule last year, the league had an unusual start to the season in December with the shortest rest period in its history.
The Lakers, winners of the ring in October in the intense Disney World playoffs, under isolated conditions, suffered from the beginning the physical problems of their figures, LeBron and Anthony Davis, and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Phoenix Suns .
Other franchise players who have missed games due to injury in these playoffs include Joel Embiid (Sixers), James Harden and Kyrie Irving (Nets) and Donovan Mitchell (Jazz), while the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics reached the postseason without Jamal Murray. and Jaylen Brown.
In addition to injuries, several teams have lost players who entered the coronavirus protocol, the last of them veteran point guard Chris Paul, leader of the Suns.
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