Kawhi Leonard made his highly anticipated season debut for the Los Angeles Clippers after missing 34 games due to a right knee injury.
Kawhi Leonard took the final shot of his pregame routine Saturday and ran off the Intuit Dome court. With fans chanting, “Kawhi! Kawhi! Kawhi!” he glanced up at the crowd and pointed his finger in acknowledgment before running into the tunnel toward the locker room. It was a rare show of excitement by a player usually devoid of emotion. Leonard had reason to be joyful because he was about to make his season debut after missing 34 games because of inflammation in his right knee.
Leonard started and played a total of 19 minutes, finishing with 12 points and three rebounds for the Clippers in a 131-105 rout of the Atlanta Hawks in front of a crowd that seemed to appreciate having the healthy All-Star back in action. Leonard was on a minutes restriction in his first game back in eight months, but the Clippers (20-15) didn't need much from him once they built a 20-point lead at halftime. He made his first shot, a three-pointer from the wing with 9:58 left in the first quarter, and finished four for 11 from the field and three for five from three-point range. “This is like his preseason, it’s like his training camp, because he hasn’t had that,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said before the game. “So, everybody that is playing tonight had a training camp. They’ve played 30, 35 games and so we are going to treat it like a preseason. Like, we’re going to make sure we bring him back slowly, make sure he’s feeling well, make sure we don’t get any of the swelling back. 'It’s a great step in the right direction tonight. We got to make sure we’re doing it the right way, and I have full confidence in our medical staff that we’ll do that.” Leonard played in just two of the Clippers’ six playoff games against the Mavericks in April. He worked out with USA Basketball in July for the Paris Olympics, but was sent home because of his knee. That led to a long, arduous rehabilitation for Leonard that included plenty of five-on-five practice
Kawhi Leonard Clippers NBA Season Debut Knee Injury
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