The Clippers are going to take things slow as John Wall and Kawhi Leonard get their legs back under them, and both will sit out against the Kings as a result.
Kawhi Leonard and John Wall were both standouts in the first Los Angeles Clippers game (and win!) of the season, but the team will be without both veterans in their Saturday matchup with the Sacramento Kings. According to the injury report the team submitted on Friday, both Wall and Leonard will sit for what the team is officially dubbing “return from injury rehabilitation.”
Leonard (14 points, 7 rebounds, 6-12 shooting) and Wall (15 points, 7-15 shooting) both looked unencumbered by their previous injury issues on Thursday night, but given that they both missed the entire season last year, the Clippers being extremely conservative with their workload is unsurprising. This team is playing for mid-June, not late October.
Plus, because of how deep this Clippers group is, the team can afford to be cautious with both Leonard and Wall while still having enough production on the rest of the roster to compete on the floor.
With Leonard and Wall out, expect Reggie Jackson, Terance Mann, Marcus Morris, Nicolas Batum (and potentially other contributors on the wings and in the backcourt like Amir Coffey) to see an increase in minutes against the Kings, with Paul George obviously taking on an even further increased offensive load.
Sacramento, meanwhile, is likely going to be getting reinforcements in this one, with rookie lottery pick Keegan Murray set to make his regular-season debut on Saturday night in Los Angeles after missing the Kings’ home opener while recovering from a case of COVID-19.
The Clippers tip off against Sacramento at 7 p.m. PT. The game will be televised locally on Bally Sports SoCal and Clippervision.