PLAYA VISTA, CA – In what may be the final practice day of the 2022-23 season, the Los Angeles Clippers are preparing as if Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will once again not be available for Tuesday's Game 5 against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns. Head coach Tyronn Lue spoke with members of the media at Monday's practice availability, where he defended Leonard against the claims that he's load managing.
“You can't listen to the outside noise, which I never do anyway,” Tyronn Lue said of Clippers' star Kawhi Leonard. “He's definitely hurt. It's not load management where he's taking time off. He's shown in his past that he's played through injuries in the playoffs. If it's something he can't play through, then it has to be pretty serious. We're not talking about him sitting out because he's load managing or he's tired or nothing like that. it's an actual thing. What the outside is saying, who cares? My job is to make sure we're in good spirits. I trust the guys that we have on the floor now.”
Tyronn Lue on Kawhi Leonard:
“He's definitely hurt. It's not load management where he's taking time off. He's shown in his past that he's played through injuries in the playoffs. If it's something he can't play through, then it has to be pretty serious."pic.twitter.com/kxz52caOcK
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) April 24, 2023
Kawhi Leonard suffered a knee injury in Game 1 but played through in Game 2 for the Clippers before aggravating it. The bad knee has since forced him to miss Games 3 and 4 of their first-round series.
The Clippers medical staff shut him down for Game 3 and determined he would be day-to-day moving forward. Kawhi Leonard would not practice on Tuesday, instead continuing to get treatment on his injured knee.
“It's always a possibility, yes,” Lue said when asked if Leonard could play in Game 5 against the Suns.
Paul George went through another rigorous workout before Clippers practice on Monday. The media portion of practice showed George going through one-on-one's with assistant coach Wesley Johnson. Tyronn Lue did not provide an update on George outside of the workout he was seen doing.
Paul George has missed the last 13 games for the Clippers with a sprained right knee, including all of the first round. He suffered the injury on March 21st in a loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He's been slowly improving, and a workout before Game 2 showed significant progress in his recovery from the sprained knee.
Paul George is running and going through a workout before Clippers shootaround here at Footprint Center.
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) April 18, 2023
The Clippers are facing elimination, and a loss in Game 5 on Tuesday night would end their season. Lue said he still has a few tricks up his sleeve for the do-or-die game.
“We have no choice. It's either win or go home. We just gotta bring everything. A lot of different things, a lot of different adjustments, just try to keep them off balance, and go from there.
“It's a tough situation to be in with your two main guys out, but I love our guys in the locker room. I'd go to war with them any day. That's the reason why I have confidence because of the guys in the locker room. They're not gonna give in. We just clean up a few things, we're right there. We're right there on both sides of the basketball. Just gotta do a better job. We feel confident. We're going into it confident. There's a few things we can do a little different, but when they have Booker playing at a high level, KD playing at a high level, and CP playing the way he did the other night, you can't have a lot of mistakes. You gotta be on point on both sides of the basketball.”
The Clippers and Suns will tip off Game 5 of the first-round series on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. PST on Bally Sports and TNT.
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