(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Clippers had quite the rollercoaster of a 2023-24 NBA season as they had several ups and downs before finally settling in during the second half of the year.
The Clippers swung a massive deal to bring in James Harden to run the offense, giving Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook a true point guard.
Meanwhile, head coach Tyronn Lue remains one of the best tacticians in the league today and can’t be counted out in any playoff series.
Los Angeles finished the season as the fourth seed and will take on the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
There is no love lost between the two teams because of their previous playoff and regular season battles, but the Clippers are slight underdogs because of Leonard’s health.
The star wing has been dealing with inflammation in his surgically-repaired knee and his status for Game 1 is reportedly in jeopardy via Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
“Increasing doubt about Kawhi Leonard’s availability for start of Clippers’ playoff series vs. Mavericks on Sunday,” Wojnarowski reported.
Increasing doubt about Kawhi Leonard’s availability for start of Clippers’ playoff series vs. Mavericks on Sunday. https://t.co/6YUC2kSvFn
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 20, 2024
Leonard missed the final eight games of the regular season with his knee injury and it’s quite concerning that he might not be able to suit up against the Mavericks.
While George, Harden and Westbrook are scheduled to play, not having Leonard puts a serious damper on the team’s chances to win this series.
Dallas boasts two superstar perimeter players in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and without Leonard Los Angeles will need to figure out a way to slow them down.
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