All signs point to Kawhi Leonard making his season debut for the Clippers on Saturday night against the Atlanta Hawks at the Intuit Dome.
The Clippers listed Leonard as “questionable” for the game against the Hawks. Leonard has been out because of a right knee injury.
The Clippers are “hopeful” that Leonard will play Saturday, but that the team will “assess him in the morning,” according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.
When Leonard does return, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said he would be on a minutes restriction, considering he hasn’t played in an NBA game in eight months.
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Reporters were told last week that Leonard was going to play five on five with the Clippers’ G League team, the San Diego Clippers, during a three-game Clippers trip that included a win at New Orleans and losses at San Antonio and at Oklahoma City.
Lue said Leonard had been making a lot of progress during his five-on-five practice sessions with teammates over the past few weeks.
Lue said Leonard was “getting more excited” about the chances of playing again soon.
“He’s been putting in a lot of work to get to this point,” Lue said recently. “So, to do five on five with contact was a huge step for him. Like I said, we got to keep doing what we’re doing right now. The medical staff has been great. He’s great at putting in the work. So now we just got to continue to build off of it.”
Leonard had been able to participate in full contact practices, but Lue said his star forward had to take more steps to be ready.
“He has to play some more five on five,” Lue said last week before the Clippers left on their three-game trip. “So, we got to get all the days we got to get him in, keep stacking the days and see how he fares after that.”
Lue said the five-on-five practices with the San Diego Clippers would give Leonard more time to test his knee.
Leonard was having a very successful campaign last season, but he began to experience knee pain on March 31, after a game in Charlotte. He played 37 minutes and scored 23 points.
The Clippers flew to Sacramento for the next game, but Leonard flew home to rest his knee. He didn’t play again in the regular season.
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Leonard’s last game was on April 26, in Game 3 of the Western Conference first round against the Mavericks.
He worked out with USA Basketball in Las Vegas in July, but eventually was sent home and didn’t play in the Olympics.
Leonard averaged a team-best 23.7 points per game last season, 6.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He shot 52.5% from the field and 41.7% from three-point range. He played in 68 games, the most he played in since playing in 74 for the Spurs in 2016-17.
The Clippers have a 19-15 record and are the seventh-seeded team in the competitive Western Conference.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
