As good as the basketball has been, injuries and missed time have absolutely been the biggest story of the NBA playoffs with huge stars missing time.
And now, it’s happening again. This time with both Kawhi Leonard and Chris Paul.
Leonard will miss the Clippers’ game 5 against the Jazz after leading his team to a series-tying win in game 4. He injured his knee at the tail end of game 5 after landing awkwardly on it.
He continued to play in the game for a few minutes after the initial injury, but the Clippers eventually pulled him in the waning moments of the game.
Now, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports, he’ll miss game 5 and his status for the rest of the series is in doubt.
Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss Game 5 against the Jazz tonight with a knee injury suffered in game 4, sources tell @ramonashelburne & me. His status for rest of series is in doubt as well.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) June 16, 2021
Then there’s Chris Paul who entered into the NBA’s COVID-19 protocol, according to a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
There’s not much detail to go off of with this one. All we know is that Paul is reportedly out indefinitely, per The Athletic, and he might be able to return earlier if he’s vaccinated.
Paul’s status for the start of the Western Conference finals is currently up in the air, sources say.
Noteworthy: Depending on the medical circumstance, an isolation period could be shorter for a vaccinated individual. https://t.co/62r5bWzLOh
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 16, 2021
Just two big blows from the NBA news cycle on a Wednesday morning. Sheesh.
Fans were devastated.
