Clippers' Kawhi Leonard to Sit out vs. Thunder Due to Right Knee Injury Management

The Los Angeles Clippers will be quite shorthanded for Tuesday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Mark Medina of NBA.com noted the Clippers ruled star Kawhi Leonard out for "right knee injury management." He joins a list of absences that includes Paul George (non-COVID illness) and Marcus Morris Sr. (personal reasons).

Law Murray of The Athletic provided more details:

The Clippers have been cautious with Leonard thus far after he sat out the 2021-22 season as he recovered from an ACL injury.

He played 21 minutes in the opener against the Los Angeles Lakers, sat out the second game against the Sacramento Kings and played 21 minutes in the third game against the Phoenix Suns. The Kings and Suns games were on back-to-back days, which suggested he may not play both ends of back-to-backs for some time.

Los Angeles is off to a 2-1 start and split the two games in which Leonard appeared.

It won't be the only team playing shorthanded on Tuesday, as the Thunder announced Josh Giddey (ankle) and Jalen Williams (orbital bone) are out. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is questionable with a hip contusion.

Oklahoma City is off to an 0-3 start, so the Clippers will still have an opportunity to improve to 3-1 even without their two go-to players taking the court.

Leonard averaged 12.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals in his limited action in his first two games. He is one of the best players in the league when healthy and has a resume that includes two championships, two NBA Finals MVPs, two Defensive Player of the Year awards, five All-NBA selections and five All-Star nods.

His presence is a major reason the Clippers could be title contenders come playoff time, which gives the team even more motivation to treat him with caution in the early portion of the season.