Kawhi Leonard

5 de enero de 2025

Scores 12 points in season debut

Leonard (knee) registered 12 points (4-11 FG, 3-5 3Pt, 1-3 FT), three rebounds, one assist and one steal across 19 minutes in Saturday's 131-105 victory over the Hawks.

Análisis

Playing in a game for the first time since April 26, 2024 after a lengthy recovery from an offseason procedure on his right knee, Leonard showed some expected rust, most notably with his poor shooting from two-point range and the free-throw line. More importantly, however, Leonard told Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com after the game that his knee provided no complications, offering hope that the star forward will round into form once he gets some more games under his belt. Though head coach Tyronn Lue didn't provide a specific minutes restriction for Leonard prior to the game, Leonard checked out of the contest for good while the Clippers were up by 15 points with 8:24 remaining in the third quarter. Per Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints.com, Lue said after the game that Leonard wouldn't have returned to the game if it had been more competitive, so the 33-year-old looks as though he'll start with a 20-minute restriction before gradually ramping up. Leonard is probably at least a week or two away from being ready to handle a consistent 30-plus-minute role, and fantasy managers should prepare for him to sit out at least one game in each of the Clippers' remaining nine back-to-back sets.