Notes: Kawhi Leonard is improving but the status of his return is pending.
LOS ANGELES >> As the Clippers prepared to play their eighth consecutive playoff game without Kawhi Leonard, Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes reported that the Clippers’ star was “doing better.”
Haynes also presented the possibility Wednesday on NBA TV before Game 6 of the Western Conference finals that the superstar’s camp and the Clippers could discuss his return from what’s been characterized as a sprained right knee if — and only if — the Clippers advanced to their first NBA Finals.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue has offered only gameby-game updates on the two-time NBA Finals MVP, who suffered the injury when he tweaked his knee on a drive to the rim late in the Clippers’ Game 4 victory of their second-round series against the Utah Jazz.
“Sources have informed me that Kawhi Leonard will not return at any point in this series,” Haynes said. “So if the Clippers are able to force a Game 7, he will be out.”
Before the start of this season — in which the Clippers have gone deeper into the playoffs than ever before in their organization’s 51-year history — Leonard stated his intention to opt out of his current contract, noting that he’ll be able to make more money by signing a new deal, whether it’s with the Clippers or another team.
For now, Haynes reported that the All-NBA first-teamer has “been staying in L.A. rehabbing” and that “he’s feeling a little bit good.”
“To the next step,” Haynes added, “if the Clippers are able to get two more wins and advance to the NBA Finals, sources have told me that Kawhi’s camp and the Clippers will meet and decide his fate from there. So they will decide if it’s worth it for him to get back out there in the NBA Finals.
“He is not ruling out a return at all in this postseason, but if he’s going to return it will happen in the NBA Finals if they get to that point, and even if they do get to that point, they will consult with the team and they will go back and forth and figure out the best course of action from there.”
Besides Leonard, the Clippers played Wednesday without starting center Ivica Zubac, who missed his second consecutive game with a sprained right MCL. Fellow center Serge Ibaka was lost for the postseason when he had back surgery during the first round.
Even short-handed, the Clippers have proved a formidable foe, closing out the top-seeded Jazz and notching a 4-3 record without Leonard entering play
Wednesday.
So, yes, after the Phoenix Suns lost Game 5 at home, 116-102, on Monday against an undermanned Clippers team — and with a second shot Wednesday to wrap up the series and return to the NBA Finals for the first time in 28 seasons — coach Monty Williams wanted his team to remain on-guard.
“We understood not only how good they were without Kawhi, but the coaching, the experience that they had that we didn’t have,” Williams said. “Obviously when you lose a guy like Kawhi, it affects your team — I mean, we didn’t have Chris for a couple games (due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols) and when we played with the Lakers, he was playing with one arm, so we certainly understand what that’s like.
“You always coach for the best team, you know what I’m saying? You prepare like they’re gonna come out and be the best team you’ve ever played against, no matter who’s on the floor.”
And, Lue said, the Clippers had experience this season filling in when one or more of their mainstays was absent, whether it was Leonard (who missed 19 games in the regular season), Paul George (who was out for 17), Patrick Beverley (who missed 34 games) or Ibaka (30 games).
“We’ve had practice at it,” Lue said. “With PG and Kawhi being out, with Serge being out, Pat Beverley being out a lot this year, I think our young guys really have had a chance to step up and play well in big games and big moments all season. Like, Luke Kennard, Terance Mann have been phenomenal all year. Reggie (Jackson), just taking over that starting role with Pat being out. He’s been phenomenal.
“Guys have stepped up. They have the experience. I think that’s the biggest thing, having the experience of being able to get consistent minutes throughout the regular season, and you just carry it over to the postseason.”
Beyond that, Lue said, teams without their full arsenal tend to present wrinkles that wouldn’t otherwise arise if an opponent’s leading man was in the lineup.
“I think at times you come into the series, into the games, thinking about trying to take away a team’s best player and how to defend them,” Lue said. “Then when he’s out, the other team kind of plays a different style of basketball. So you just really can’t key in on one or two guys.”