UPDATE: Leonard is now available to play on Wednesday.
Kawhi Leonard has been ruled out for tonight’s matchup between the Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors due to a sprained left ankle. He will join Bradley Beal and Yanic Konan Niederhauser on the sidelines as the Clippers face the franchise that Leonard once led to a championship in the 2018-19 season.
This will also make Leonard ineligible to qualify for any of the All-NBA teams or postseason awards due to games missed. The seven-time All-Star has suited up for 56 games this season, with 10 games remaining, including tonight’s matchup. If he is to suit up for each of the final nine games, Leonard would finish one game shy of the NBA’s 65-game standard. The Clippers are also offering the Kawhi Leonard bobblehead to fans for tonight’s game.
On the wider scale of the season, Leonard has wildly exceeded expectations. Across his 56 games played, the two-time Final MVP is averaging a career-high 28.3 points per game, along with 6.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. He has been vital to keeping the Clippers afloat, especially following the decisions to trade away James Harden and Ivica Zubac at the NBA trade deadline.
Los Angeles currently sits in the eighth seed of the Western Conference with a 36-36 record on the season. They are a half-game above the Trail Blazers in the standings, but would need other make up 3.5-games on the Phoenix Suns to climb to seventh.
The Clippers will be facing off with a Raptors team that has faded a bit in the second half of the season and looking to capitalize on this. Looking at the odds on DraftKings Sportsbook, the Clippers enter as 4.5-point favorites and hold -180 odds of winning outright. The Raptors hold +150 odds of pulling off the upset with the game total set at 226.5.
Looking at the bigger picture, the Clippers hold -160 odds of making the playoffs on DraftKings Sportsbook. They hold +12,000 odds of winning the Western Conference and +30,000 of winning the NBA Championship this year.
