After putting up their worst defensive performance of the season against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, the LA Clippers will look to rebound in Houston as they face the Rockets on Wednesday evening. Prior to their one-off poor showing in OKC, the Clippers were winners of four games in a row.
The truth is, LA's defense has been stifling for the most part this season. Outside of the Thunder game on Monday and their two contests against the high-octane offense of the Phoenix Suns, the Clippers have not given up more than 106 points in all their other games this year.
Perhaps the biggest reason LA has been able to thrive and retain a winning record through 11 games has been just how difficult their defenders make life for their opponents. Then on the offensive side, Norman Powell has been absolutely tearing up the nets and leading the Clippers in scoring.
This creates a relatively optimistic view of this team when you consider the fact that Kawhi Leonard will be playing with this group at some point as well. He has still yet to appear this season, but we may be approaching Leonard's return.
Is Kawhi Leonard playing tonight vs the Rockets?
As of this writing, Kawhi is still listed as out on the injury report for Wednesday. As much as it may feel like a broken record when discussing anything to do with Leonard's injury timelines and recovery, the information provided to us indicates that Kawhi may be returning relatively soon.
Nothing is imminent, of course. But back on October 23, we got an update from Shams Charania that indicated Leonard would be "missing weeks." With that date now being a total of three weeks ago, it stands to reason that he could be back on the court before the end of the month. Nothing is guaranteed, but we have also not received word of any setbacks in his recovery.
Full Clippers injury report vs Rockets:
Along with Kawhi Leonard, P.J. Tucker (not with team) and Mo Bamba (knee) have also been ruled out for Wednesday. Cam Christie and Trentyn Flowers will also both be out due to being on assignment with the G League San Diego Clippers.
Full Rockets injury report vs Clippers:
Fred VanVleet missed Houston's Monday night tilt with the Washington Wizards due to a left hamstring strain. He is listed as questionable for Wednesday. Also questionable are Steven Adams (knee) and Jock Landale (shoulder). Cam Whitmore, N’Faly Dante and Nate Williams are all out on G League assignments.