Tyronn Lue and the Los Angeles Clippers continued their regular season play on Friday with an NBA Cup showdown against the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was the 21st game of the season for the team without Kawhi Leonard, someone they’re hoping to have back sooner than later.
Former Clippers guard Patrick Beverley dropped some news heading into the weekend, saying that Leonard is inching closer to a return while sharing some fun moments. Now, the Clippers provide more information themselves.
Clippers’ Tyronn Lue provides injury update on Kawhi Leonard
On Friday night, head coach Tyronn Lue was asked about Kawhi Leonard’s progress from injury in his pre-game media availability against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“He’s progressing well,” Lue said. “He’s been able to get on the court and do some things on the court, which is good for us. So just still checking every box, making sure that he’s doing the right things and his workouts are really good and making sure we don’t let him get to the next step until he checks those boxes, so our medical staff has done a great job with that, making sure that we make sure he’s 100% when he comes back.”
The Clippers have put together a 12-9 record through 21 games, or a quarter of the season. The team ranks 24th in offensive rating, fourth in defensive rating, and 10th in net rating. An addition of Kawhi Leonard’s caliber to this version of the Clippers has a lot of fans salivating at the potential for a healthy team.
“He’s every excited,” Tyronn Lue added of what Leonard has shared with him about the team thus far. “He’s very excited with how we’ve been playing, especially our attention to detail on the defensive end, he’s really excited. He’s excited about our new guys. And just the way we play and compete, you’ve got to win different every night, and our guys are accustomed to that an whatever it takes to win, that’s what we’re going to do.”
On his podcast earlier this week, Patrick Beverley revealed a conversation he had with Leonard about his injury recovery.
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“They got a complete package,” Beverley said of the Clippers. “They’re going to be scary in the playoffs. I talked to Kawhi [Leonard] on the phone yesterday, he’s healing up like a f–king machine.”
According to Positive Residual, the Clippers have played the sixth toughest schedule in the NBA behind only the Brooklyn Nets, Portland Trail Blazers, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, and Washington Wizards.
Until Leonard can return, Tyronn Lue and the Clippers will continue to lean heavily for scoring on James Harden, Norman Powell, and Ivica Zubac while relying on Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. defensively.
In 68 appearances during the 2023-24 season, Kawhi Leonard averaged 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game on 52.5 percent shooting from the field and 41.7 percent from three.