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Kawhi Leonard's status still uncertain day before Clippers' playoff opener

Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times on

Published in Basketball

Lue was asked what would determine if Leonard played Sunday since it would be three weeks since he last he played.

“I don’t know,” Lue said. “Medical. I’m not that.”

Presumably, a lot more will fall on the shoulders of George and James Harden if Leonard is out, but Lue was not willing to entertain that scenario.

“Well, we don’t know if there’s no Kawhi,” Lue said. “I wouldn’t say that as of right now. But it’s on all of us. It’s not just one player or two players. It’s all of us collectively doing our jobs and doing it the best we can do it. And so it’s not on one or two guys. It’s on everybody to produce as well as me and the coaching staff as well.”

The Clippers were 7-7 when Leonard didn’t play this season.

The Clippers had three impressive wins without Leonard, defeating Denver and Cleveland at home and Phoenix on the road.

 

That gives the them some hope against a Dallas team with its lethal backcourt of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Ivring.

“Yeah, if he can’t go, like we understand where we’re at,” Lue said. “And it was huge for us to get those wins against Denver and the comeback win against Cleveland, cause it’s been hard for us in the past to win without Kawhi. So, that was good to see, especially going down the stretch.

“We needed those games, we needed those wins and for those guys to step up and play the way they did and then also you got to include Phoenix in there as well. Those were some huge games for us.”

The Clippers had four days of practice to prepare for the fifth-seeded Mavericks. During that time, Lue said his group has had a “sharp focus” despite the Leonard injury saga.

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