LOS ANGELES ā€“ The LA Clippers dodged a bullet after Kawhi Leonard went down bloodied late in their Christmas Day matchup with the Denver Nuggets.

With 6:10 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Clippers leading the Nuggets 108-97, Leonard went for an offensive rebound, but met his face with Serge Ibaka's elbow in the process. Leonard immediately went down, his knees buckling as he landed on his backside. Within seconds, members of the Clippers medical staff were tending to Leonard's bloody mouth, which also saw blood on his left arm and the court.

Leonard walked off the court under his own power with head athletic trainer Jasen Powell gripping a towel to his face to contain the bleeding. He was ruled out within minutes, and after the game, the Clippers announced Leonard suffered a laceration in his mouth that required eight stitches to close up.

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With Kawhi Leonard out, the Clippers responded with back-to-back three-pointers to force a Denver timeout, up 14 with 4:27 remaining.

After the game, head coach Tyronn Lue said he wasn't worried about Leonard.

ā€œHeā€™s going to be fine,ā€Lue said with a smile. He got up and walked off the floor so heā€™s good. I didnā€™t even see it. Heā€™s still getting evaluated right now. Iā€™m not sure. I didnā€™t even see what happened.ā€

Paul George said that, initially, he was very concerned as he hadn't seen what happened.

[I was] really worried,ā€ George admitted. ā€œI was thinking of the worst. I didnā€™t know if he was concussed or how hard of a hit or what actually happened because I didnā€™t see it. I just saw him laying on the ground. That was first and foremost, just making sure he was okay.ā€

Kawhi Leonard finished the game with 21 points, five rebounds, seven assists, four steals, and one block on 8-of-14 shooting in 30 minutes.

The Clippers won't practice on Saturday, giving their players, coaches, and staff time with their families before returning to play Sunday afternoon against the Dallas Mavericks. Leonard's status has yet to be determined for that game, and it's also unclear whether he suffered any concussion-like symptoms after the hit.