Kawhi Leonard's Ruled Out Ahead of Suns-Clippers Game 4

After missing game three due to a sprained right knee, Kawhi Leonard has been ruled out of a return for the Los Angeles Clippers against the Phoenix Suns in Game 4.

With Leonard’s status previously in the air for the Clippers, Ty Lue has to prepare for the worst if he is unable to play come Saturday afternoon.

“I got a little time now to [prepare], yes,” Lue said (h/t ClutchPoints). “I’m preparing for both [scenarios].”

Leonard has had to deal with a string of injuries over the past couple of seasons, so having him go down once again hurts for the entire Clippers organization.

“It’s very deflating,” Lue said. “I think more so for Kawhi because you have a guy who’s coming off ACL, hasn’t missed a rehab session, eats right, eats clean, does everything he can for his body, works extremely hard to get to this point. Then you have something like this happen. So it’s tough for him, for all the work that he puts in. I feel bad for him.”

After a season where it seemed the Clippers would be fully healthy going into the playoffs, losing both Leonard and Paul George to injuries is just demoralizing as a whole.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Leonard initially suffered the injury in Game 1 before playing through it in Game 2. 

“Our team, like I said, our guys have been through a lot this year, the last two years,” Lue said. “For us to compete to get to the point where we made the Playoffs, we feeling pretty good outside of having PG out, like I said, when this happens, it’s a blow.”

Despite keeping up with the Suns throughout Game 3, the loss of Leonard was too much to overcome for the Clippers as they ultimately lost 129-124, though Norman Powell and Russell Westbrook combined for 72 points. 

The status of Leonard is now determined for Game 4 - we'll see if the Clippers can piece together a more solidified game plan. The two sides return to Phoenix for a potentially series-defining Game 5 on Tuesday.