Last night in Memphis, Kawhi Leonard only played one half for 18 minutes in total. A little weird, but there’s a good reason for that: The Fun Guy plans to play back-to-back this Saturday in a very important game against the Pelicans.
April 8 and 9, 2021.
This may not mean anything to you, but know that these two dates correspond to the last time we saw Kawhi Leonard jouer un back-to-back. Since then, the king of load management has suffered a major knee injury as well as a white season, enough to take the maximum of precautions in his return to the game. But that’s it, Kawhi can once again chain two games in two evenings… well almost.
Friday in Memphis, Kawhi was well on the ground at the time of the in-between, but not at the start of the third quarter. In effect, Leonard was sidelined for the entirety of the second half precisely to prepare for the crucial meeting against the Pelicans, who only have a game and a half behind the Clippers in the standings. This weighed down Los Angeles, dominated by the Grizzlies in the second half to finally lose 108-94, and particularly frustrated coach Tyronn Lue, already forced to do without injured Paul George.
Tyronn Lue’s reaction to Kawhi Leonard and the game swing from up 20 to down 22.
T Lue has been frustrated all year by the load management plan. That was apparent again tonight. pic.twitter.com/3UwQN4zlks
— Law Murray 🥁 (@LawMurrayTheNU) April 1, 2023
The most surprising thing about all of this is that some players – including Norman Powell and Russell Westbrook – did not seem visibly unaware of the Kawhi plan. Communication level is not great, especially one week from the end of the regular season.
The good news in all of this is that Leonard should evolve with his usual playing time for the meeting on the New Orleans side this Saturday. A meeting with the atmosphere of Playoffs, the Clippers having to secure their place in the Top 6 of the Western Conference as quickly as possible, while the Pelicans want to ensure their qualification for the play-in tournament, or even more if affinities.
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Source texte : Los Angeles Times
