The Los Angeles Clippers will look to avoid suffering their first losing skid this Tuesday evening when they host the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, but they will be without two key weapons. Both forward Kawhi Leonard and guard Bradley Beal are sitting out the Thunder game for maintenance reasons, as reflected on their respective status updates on the NBA's official injury report.
These moves on Leonard and Beal are not exactly surprising. They were expected, considering that the Thunder game will be the Clippers' second outing in as many days. Both players played and started on Monday night's home game versus the visiting Miami Heat.
Leonard saw action for 37 minutes against the Heat, scoring 27 points on 10-for-21 shooting from the field, while adding four rebounds, four assists and four steals. It is also worth noting that the 34-year-old Leonard had a mild tweak on his ankle in a prior contest against the New Orleans Pelicans over the weekend.
Beal, on the other hand, chipped in 12 points with two assists and a steal while going 5-for-8 from the floor in 20 minutes, albeit in a 120-119 loss to Bam Adebayo and company.
Without Leonard and Beal, the Clippers will have to rely on the healthy bodies on their roster to cover up for the usual production of the two players.
Without Leonard and Beal, the Clippers will have to rely on the healthy bodies on their roster to cover up for the usual production of the two players. Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kris Dunn and John Collins are some of the Clippers who could see increased playing time and usage on the floor versus the Thunder, who are starting a four-game win streak after crushing the New Orleans Pelicans at Oklahoma City, 137-106, on Sunday.
On the season, Leonard is leading LA with 24.3 points per game on 50.5 percent shooting from the floor and 40 percent on his attempts from behind the arc. Beal is averaging just 8.0 points per outing while knocking down 48 percent of his field goal attempts and 40.0 percent of his shots from the 3-point region.
Beating the Thunder gets a taller order for the Clippers without Leonard and Beal, but especially the former. Oklahoma City entered Tuesday still undefeated through eight games in the 2025-26 NBA season. Moreover, the Thunder are expected to get back Chet Holmgren after he missed games because of a back issue.
