Clippers will need to fight for their playoff lives in Game 6 without injured star

Clippers All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard has already been ruled out for L.A.’s must-win Game 6 contest against the Mavericks on Friday, the team has announced, via ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk.

The 6-foot-7 swingman is dealing with right knee inflammation that has limited him to just two games this season. Injuries have now waylaid him for four straight postseasons, if one counts the 2022 play-in tournament during which he was still rehabilitating from a right knee ACL tear initial incurred during the 2021 playoffs.

During his two healthy contests against the Mavericks, Leonard lacked a lot of his normal two-way mobility. He averaged just 12.0 PPG on 45.8% shooting from the floor and 66.7% shooting from the charity stripe, along with 8.0 RPG, 2.0 APG and 2.0 SPG.

The two-time Defensive Player of the Year enjoyed his healthiest regular season in years during 2023-24, but Leonard’s good injury fortune appears to have run out during these playoffs. L.A. inked him to a three-year, $149.7M contract extension midway through the season, but the team has yet to come to term with its other injury-prone All-Star forward, Paul George.

L.A. reveals that starting shooting guard Terance Mann is considered merely questionable to play with a right lower-leg contusion.

According to the NBA’s most recent injury report, 3-and-D Dallas wing Tim Hardaway Jr. will be unavailable with a right ankle sprain.

The Mavericks lead the Clippers 3-2 in their 4-5 Western Conference series matchup. The action is returning to Dallas on Friday night.