The Toronto Raptors are playing the second game of a back-to-back on Saturday and Kawhi Leonard will sit the game out according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. Wolstat writes:
“No surprise, Kawhi Leonard resting tonight for Raptors. Played a ton last night and isn’t 100% yet. Anunoby questionable, Miles could return a game earlier than anticipated, but we’ll see.”
The Raptors are being very cautious with Leonard and that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. His falling out with the San Antonio Spurs directly centered around how the organization handled his injury and rehab process. The Raptors don't want to make that same mistake.
Leonard has yet to play both games in a back-to-back this season. Old school NBA die-hards might scoff at the notion of a star player sitting out games for rest, but rest games are just an inevitability at this point.
From the Toronto perspective, they can afford to keep Leonard out of certain games for rest. They are off to an impressive 12-4 start and they look to be one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference this season. That being said, the Raptors have lost three straight and are in the midst of their first real slump this season.
Leonard is back to his old self and he's dominating games on both ends of the court. In a perfect world, he would play all 82 games for Toronto. But that was never happening this season. The Raptors are looking to keep Kawhi happy and healthy as long as they can.
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