Getty Kawhi Leonard
Kawhi Leonard posted 19 points in Friday night’s win over the Phoenix Suns, but has now missed two consecutive games with a foot injury that he sustained on that night. He was absent for the blowout against the Lakers last night–which he may have missed, injury or not. He’s been resting on back-to-back games–and was ruled out for last night’s game against the Utah Jazz as well.
Kawhi Leonard will miss tonight’s Raptors/Lakers game in Los Angeles. He tweaked his foot on Friday night.
The small forward is a shoo-in for MVP–if he can stay healthy, that is–but the Raptors are deep enough to be fine without him. They seem to be playing it safe with Leonard, it would be unwise to risk further injury at this point–and as exemplified by teams like the Jazz, OKC, the Pelicans, and others–a team’s biggest star is liable to get injured easily and often.
Even without Leonard, though, the Raptors are gunning for the Eastern Conference Championship and daring anyone to stop them. Besides Leonard’s average contribution of 26.1 points and 7.6 rebounds, Kyle Lowry is a star in his own right and holds the team down at the point position. He averages 17.9 points per game and a remarkable 11.5 assists making him one of the most efficient point players in the league.
In the blowout against the jazz, Serge Ibaka had another great game after his ridiculous 34-point performance against the Lakers on Sunday, putting up a solid 17 points in just 14 minutes.
Just give it to @sergeibaka
9 Pts – 4/4 t.co/wg2AU1T9mj
Siakam, Anunoby, Valanciunas, and Van Vleet also contributed double figures in scoring, making this team a sprawling offensive threat and near-impossible to stop–especially with the Jazz’s best scorer on the bench.
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