The Los Angeles Clippers have looked lost at times without Kawhi Leonard this season, and that may really be put to test as they embark on a tough two-game road trip.
Leonard left Tuesday night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves with thoracic spasms — otherwise known as back spasms. The six-time NBA All-Star left the arena during the second quarter, surprising a lot of folks in what was a very crucial game as far as seeding goes.
Videos posted on social media showed Leonard walking up to head coach Tyronn Lue to speak with him during the first quarter timeout. During the break in action, Leonard spoke with Lue, attempted to stretch out his back, and ultimately departed toward the Clippers' locker room.
Here’s Kawhi Leonard telling Tyronn Lue something on the Clippers bench before stretching and departing during the 1st quarter timeout. Looked like he was in some discomfort.
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 13, 2024
Tyronn Lue provided a much-needed update on the Clippers star shortly after the game.
“Yeah, he’s been dealing with it for a couple of days,” Tyronn Lue told ClutchPoints. “Back spasms and… Wasn’t sure if he was going to go this morning. But he came to shootaround, got some treatment, did what he had to do and tried to get on the court and play today and it just didn’t loosen up for him.”
Kawhi Leonard's injury status moving forward
Lue added that he's not sure if Kawhi Leonard would be able to travel for the Clippers' upcoming two-game road trip. LA travels to Chicago to take on the Bulls for a Thursday night showdown, which is followed by a trip to New Orleans to face the Pelicans on Friday.
The Clippers held a 22-point first-half lead against the Timberwolves, but they relinquished nearly all of it by halftime with Kawhi Leonard out. The players claimed there was no dropoff mentally or physically, but it was very easy to see there was an impact.
“Um, mentally. Just being mentally tough. They’re a good team without KAT. They are going to make runs and we can’t drop our heads and, you know, feel sorry for ourselves. So, it’s just part of the game. But just being mentally tougher when things are not going good.
“There’s a lot of things we didn’t do great. They had 27 more shots than we had. We had 19 turnovers for 24 points. They had 27 points in transition. They had 19 offensive rebounds. I mean, you can go down the list. It was a lot of things that we didn’t do well. And, I thought they were tougher than us. They played tougher than we did and that’s the result. And, so, we just got to be better.
Along with the loss of Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers also lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Timberwolves. LA dropped to 41-23 with the defeat, placing them three games behind Minnesota and just two games ahead of fifth-place New Orleans.
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