493 days! Finally the Clippers waited until Kawhi Leonard returned to the team, and placed an experimental “five forward” in the warm-up game. Seeing that they could finally win the championship again, they experienced only two dreams, and Leonard was injured again, and then on November 17th He only played three games in the comeback and he was injured again. Is the speedboat too defensive, or the rest of Leonard’s argument?
Why did Kawhi Leonard rest this time?
In fact, the situation was not as dramatic as it was in the Spurs at that time, it was just a simple injury. First, after the Suns on October 23, the Clippers immediately announced that Leonard would rest again. The reason initial official was “right knee injury management” (Right knee injury management), but according to The Athletic reporter Murray’s Law It was further reported that Leonard felt his knee was stiff after the game. Although he hoped to play, he was still protected by the cautious Clippers team. He took 12 games in one breath until he returned to the court in against the Pistons on November 17 .
Leonard only played 3 games this time, because thelast minute gamehe accidentally stepped on teammate Amir Coffey after taking off and landed and twisted his foot. Although the interview after the game emphasized that he was fine, but according to the head coach postmortem Ty LueLeonard felt a little sore the next day, and the Clippers once again put him on the Day To Day disabled list out of sanity, and he has not returned to the team until today against the Kings.
(News 12/3: Kawhi Leonard has participated in the team’s practice, and his status has been changed to Questionable. Ty Lue confirmed that he will participate in the next road trip with the team, and he is the last mile before returning to the team. team)
In fact, since the surgery was completed in the summer of 2021, the Clippers have not dared to be careless with Leonard. Although there have been many rumors claiming that the recovery progress is sooner than expected, and that he is expected to return to the team early in the 2021-22 season, Leonard even joked before the season if it was true entered the championship game last season. , he might play, but the Clippers are always worried about the “return time” “He stayed calm, and continued the previous “load management” strategy, paying attention to any minor problems of Leonard, dissatisfied take any risks.
The injury Leonard suffered was an ACL (partially torn cruciate ligament of the knee), not minor surgery. When he returned to the team for the second time on November 17, although he did not explain the reason for missing 12 games, he also pointed out that the rest was due to the ball. The decision made by the team and he explained that “this season is a long journey. Many people think that the ACL recovery period is a year, but in fact it is two years. I understand this, so I will continue to move forward and complete this journey. Continue to rehabilitate and prepare.”
The speedboat is very scary
Suppose you go back to the summer of 2019, and you are the team boss of the Clippers. You have the power to decide whether to sign Leonard and implement the Paul George contract. Looking at the rich injury history of both, will you back down because of this?
How heartbreaking is it for a key player to get injured in the playoffs? Clippers owner Steve Ballmer must have sympathy. First, in the 2014-15 season, Chris Paul missed two games due to a hip strain. The following year, he was injured along with Blake Griffin. In the 2016-17 playoffs, Griffin was replaced by Griffin. Only three games played and was reimbursed for the season It appears to be an inevitable curse in Clippers history, and will continue through the 2021 season.
Leonard has never been a healthy ironman player. After the injury in 2017-18, the highest number of appearances in just one season is 60 games. Even George is not a strong player. He also suffers major injuries and the average number of games played in the three seasons between 2019-2022 is only 44.3 games, and the number of games played in the first two years of joining the Clippers is even lower than Leonard.
However, there is no doubt that the playoffs are the battleground for star competition, as long as both can play healthy, it will be full of respect. Leonard holds two FMVPs, and led the Toronto Raptors to win the first championship in team history in one year. For three consecutive seasons from 2018 to 2021, the average playing time in the playoffs was more than 39 minutes, and the average score in two seasons above the 30 mark. It is a rare thing in the league to have a star who can have a huge influence on both ends of the offense and the defense. And while George has been derided for his self-proclaimed “Playoffs P” but his performance in the paint, he will prove himself again in the playoffs in 2021 averaging 40 minutes per game, with 26.9 points, 5.4 assists and 9.6 rebounds. The Clippers are headed into the Western Conference championship game.
At least at this time, the Clippers still believe that Leonard and George are enough to bring back the championship Gold Cup combination, but how to ensure health after major injuries and play 100% in the playoffs? “Load management” (rotation) is undoubtedly the only way. Even between winning the championship with the Raptors in 2019 and being injured in the playoffs in 2021, Leonard did not suffer major injuries. The Raptors and Clippers chose to resort to “load management”. The strategy also worked, except for Leonard’s unfortunate second injury.
.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1)
