LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard will not play in Saturday's contest against the Portland Trail Blazers — the first leg of a back-to-back.
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00:00LA Clippers star forward Kawhi Leonard will not play in Saturday's contest in Portland Trail Blazers.
00:05The decision was made early this morning for the LA Times' Andrew Greif.
00:08That's come as a big surprise.
00:10The Clippers have played back-to-back this season. Leonard typically has rested in the first game and plays the second game to maximize rest.
00:17LA will face off with the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, which Leonard will presumably suit up for.
00:21The Clippers were already going to be shorthanded for this meeting today against the Blazers as
00:25Patrick Beverley and Montrezl Harold both made unavailable for the game on Friday.
00:29Beverley due to a calf strain and Harold still unavailable as he tended to a family matter.
00:34Leonard's absence will only make things more difficult for LA now against a very motivated Portland team.
00:39The Blazers have gone 3-1 in the bubble so far with wins over the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, and Memphis Grizzlies.
00:45The lone loss being a four-point defeat at the hands of Boston Celtics. Without Leonard and Beverley, the Clippers will have their hands full defensively.
00:52Portland is scoring nearly 125 points per game in the bubble and star guard Damian Lillard has been a huge part of that.
00:58The 30-year-old is averaging 31.3 points and 11.3 assists and knocking down close to 44% of his 12 three-point attempts per game
01:06so far in these bubble games. The Blazers have also got some excellent play out of Yusuf Nurkic as well
01:11who made a season debut on July 31st.
01:13He's posting averages 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks per contest so far. Of course, all isn't lost for LA.
01:20Paul George has looked phenomenal in these games so far.
01:23Portland has struggled to contain wins all year long.
01:25So look for him to have a monster game if someone does have one, especially because there is some bad blood between Paul George and the Blazers.
01:31If the Clippers end up losing this one though,
01:33there's still hope that they'll be able to hang on to the Western Conference's number two seed. As it stands, LA has a one-and-a-half game
01:39lead over Denver and Denver's next few opponents include the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, the Clippers, and Toronto Raptors.
01:45If anything, a win here for the Blazers could make things more difficult for the Lakers.
01:49Portland is still the number nine seed out west, but if they close the gap with the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth seed,
01:54Lillard & Company would be a much more difficult first-round opponent for Los Angeles,
01:58which is how the Clippers in the long run if those two teams are to meet in the conference finals.
02:02Clippers and Blazers will meet today at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. The game will air on TNT and of course on Prime Ticket.