Kawhi Leonard ruled out the Lakers game with an ankle injury
The hits keep coming for Los Angeles Clippers; still without Darius Garland, the key player they got in the James Harden trade, as well lost John Collins to a brutal head injury earlier in their Friday night contest against the Los Angeles Lakers.
To make matters worse, the Clippers will now be without Kawhi Leonard in the final few minutes of a tight game against the Purple and Gold, according to Tomer Azarly, the Clippers beat a reporter for ClutchPoints.
Leonard was feeling sore in his left ankle, and appeared to tweak it on the play earlier in the fourth quarter when he tried to lift the ball and it was knocked out of his grasp. The Clippers star has been treading rather cautiously, and now the team is choosing to play it safe, refusing to risk further damage to their best player.
Before being forced out of the game with an ankle injury, Leonard scored 31 points on 11-19 shooting to go along with four rebounds and five assists.
Things are going from bad to worse for the plucky Clippers
To say this season hasn’t gone according to plan for the Clippers would be an understatement. Leonard’s alleged involvement in a cap deal involving a bankrupt company called Aspiration got things off on the wrong foot for the Clippers this season, and now LA will be without two key players at such a crucial point in the season.
The Clippers were one win away from the .500 mark, a borderline miracle given their 6-21 start to the season, but their loss to the Lakers delays their monumental climb for now. The onus will be on Benedict Maturin to lead the team in scoring if Leonard, Collins and Garland would miss even more time.
2026-02-21 05:40:00
