Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard is out for Wednesday's premier matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks due to “load management,” ClutchPoints' Tomer Azarly reports.
Leonard is expected to be back on Thursday against the Portland Trail Blazers — the second half of the team's back-to-back.
Kawhi Leonard is OUT tomorrow against the #Bucks due to load management. #Clippers
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) November 6, 2019
Folks had circled Wednesday's Clippers-Bucks game in L.A. as a potential 2020 NBA Finals preview due to the strength of the respective teams. However, head coach Doc Rivers won't have his star player available against last seasons Most Valuable Player in Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Clippers are 5-2 in the young 2019-20 NBA season and 0-1 without Leonard, who missed an Oct. 30 bout with the Utah Jazz.
It's worth watching how many games Leonard will end up playing in this season, as he only appeared in 60 regular-season contests with the Toronto Raptors last year. Of course, for the Raps, Leonard's generous load management led to the first championship in the Canadian franchise's history, so it's difficult to argue with results.
However, now in the Western Conference, Leonard has a tougher task to manage his health while playing against a higher level of competition on any given night. The Clippers are also still without All-Star forward Paul George, who was acquired in a blockbuster offseason trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder to join Leonard.
George is another elite two-way player that instantly makes the Clippers a dangerous threat against any team, so the organization is wary to preserve the two stars' health in order to contend with the best.
Unfortunately for NBA fans, though, that means missing regular season matchups with the likes of Antetokounmpo — something undoubtedly people already had purchased tickets to see.
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