Kawhi Leonard’s absence may not last much longer. As announced by the Toronto Raptors, the forward is progressing well after undergoing treatment to reduce the inflammation in his right knee, and has already started the process of returning to the court.
The Canadians have said they will update his status in a week, but it is not clear whether that is with a view to him being fully recovered by then. If so, his spell on the sidelines would end after two and a half weeks, shorter than the three or four initially anticipated.
Kawhi was only able to play the first two games of the season, in which, with 19.5 points and 7.5 rebounds, he helped his side to wins over Washington and Chicago. Without him, Rajakovic’s team have been unable to maintain that momentum and have suffered three defeats in five games. And although the tougher schedule over this stretch has also been a factor to consider, in some of those games they have shown difficulties in half-court creation that Leonard should, at least in part, resolve.
No homecoming
One of the games Kawhi has missed was Toronto’s visit to the Los Angeles Clippers, in which the Californian would have returned to his old home, where his illegal contracts caused so many problems and where a rather unfriendly reception was expected. As a result, Leonard and the Clippers will not cross paths again until next season at the earliest, by which time tempers should have calmed.
