Kawhi Leonard is battling an injury at the worst time of the year, with the NBA playoffs beginning on Saturday.
Leonard missed the last eight games of the regular season due to right knee soreness. The Clippers urgently need him back in uniform, having drawn a tough opponent in the Dallas Mavericks for the first round of the playoffs.
The good news is that ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has now provided a promising update about Leonard’s injury stats, with the postseason just around the corner.
“In the past, there is always some mystery around Kawhi Leonard injuries, that sometimes they turn out to be worse than perhaps first described,” Wojnarowski said on NBA Countdown.
.@wojespn with the latest on Kawhi Leonard's injury: pic.twitter.com/F9OupyOEAc
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“I’m told that is not the case here. This is right knee inflammation on the same knee that just in the past few years he had meniscus surgery on, he had ACL surgery on, and then this season he has played 68 games, the most he has played since the 2016-17 season.”
“They have to quell that inflammation. He’s been out eight games, they’ve got the week to continue to give him that treatment to get him back.
Before his recent injury, it had been a relatively healthy run for Leonard this season. He had played 68 games this season, his most in a single campaign since 2016-17 when he was still a member of the San Antonio Spurs.
The Clippers will be hoping his latest health setback is merely a blip on the radar, rather than a return to his frequent injuries of the past.
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