Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Gordon Hayward Resting on 2nd Night of Back-to-Back
Toronto Raptors small forward Kawhi Leonard, Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Jimmy Butler and Boston Celtics small forward Gordon Hayward will sit out their teams' respective games Saturday.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Marc Stein of the New York Times and Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston reported the news.
Each player will rest as part of the second half of back-to-back games after playing Friday.
Leonard is coming off a strong showing Friday, as he led all scorers with 31 points in the Raptors' 113-101 win over the Celtics.
On Saturday, Toronto will be without the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year in a road game against the Washington Wizards.
Leonard appeared in just nine games last season with the San Antonio Spurs because of a quad injury.
Butler registered 33 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists Friday in a 131-123 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The four-time All-Star requested a trade a few weeks ago, but Minnesota has yet to move him despite the fact that he can become a free agent during the offseason.
Butler will miss Saturday's road tilt with the Dallas Mavericks.
In Friday's loss to Toronto, Hayward finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.
That marked just his second regular-season game since suffering a gruesome leg injury in the 2017-18 season opener.
The injury cost Hayward the remainder of the campaign, as well as Boston's playoff run to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Boston will be without Hayward for Saturday's road game against the New York Knicks.
