Los Angeles Clippers forwards Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are sidelined for Friday night’s road game against the Denver Nuggets.
George is still recovering from a strained right hamstring, while Leonard has been sidelined after spraining his right ankle. Luke Kennard (calf) is also out.
According to a few NBA betting sites, the Clippers have the fourth best odds to win the championship in 2023. See which sportsbooks are picking the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference.
The Clippers injury report for Black Friday is unchanged from yesterday.
Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Luke Kennard and the Ontario trio played with the Nuggets.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the injured Clippers are done until December.
– Law Murray 🚭 (@LawMurrayTheNU) November 25, 2022
In addition, George has not played since suffering the injury in the Clippers’ 119-97 win over the San Antonio Spurs last Saturday. In 16 starts this season, the wing is averaging 23.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game.
Not to mention, George is shooting 45.8% from the field and 37.2% from deep. The Nuggets are using the All-Star 30.9% of their face-off games from the field in seven games and George’s true shooting percentage is 58.4%.
Meanwhile, Leonard has missed time since injuring his ankle in the Clippers’ 121-114 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday. The forward had missed 13 games before the ankle injury while managing a knee injury.
Clippers stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard will miss Friday night’s game against the Nuggets.
Of course, in Leonard’s first two games this season, Clips coach Tyronn Lue benched the two-time Finals MVP. He finished with 14 points and seven boards to open the season against the Lakers.
The five-time All-Star then contributed 11 points and six rebounds three days later. After resting his knee through load management, Lue decided to return Leonard to the starting lineup.
As a rookie, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year has struggled this season. In three games, Leonard failed to finish with at least one steal. However, he shot 62.5% from the floor last Saturday.
Ty Lu said Kawhi Leonard was woken up yesterday due to pain. No timetable has been provided for his return, either for PG or Luke Kennard.
— Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) November 24, 2022
“Woke up with some pain in the ankle,” Lue said of Leonard, following the Clippers’ 124-107 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
“We saw the game, it was a little bit better than we expected. But it’s okay, it’s getting better, it’s getting better. So we don’t know the timeline right now.
On top of that, the Nuggets are also dealing with a number of injuries. On Friday, Jeff Green (knee) and Bone Hyland (illness) were sidelined.
Additionally, Ish Smith (calf) and Michael Porter Jr. (heel) are listed as questionable. In addition to Colin Gillespie (foot) who is out indefinitely, Nikola Jokic (hip), Jamal Murray (conditioning) and Peyton Watson (quarantine) are listed as possible.
The Nuggets are 3.5-point favorites entering Friday night’s meeting. According to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, the Nuggets have a 51.2% chance of beating the Clippers.
