Clippers' Kawhi Leonard Out vs. Trae Young, Hawks Because of Knee Injury

Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard will miss Saturday night's game against Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks because of a left knee contusion, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

It will mark the second consecutive game Leonard will miss, as he sat out of Thursday's 132-127 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans because of left knee injury management.

The Clippers will also be without guard Patrick Beverley (sore left calf) on Saturday.

After a quad injury limited him to just nine games in 2017-18, Leonard dealt with a couple of minor injuries during his lone season with the Toronto Raptors. While making just 60 regular-season appearances, he missed two games because of a hip injury and another pair of contests with a sore knee.

Leonard responded to a tumultuous final season with the San Antonio Spurs by putting together his best season to date. He averaged a career-high 26.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals in Toronto last season.

Of course, his one-and-done campaign was capped off by him earning his second career NBA Finals MVP award while leading the Raptors to their first-ever championship.

During the 2019 NBA Finals, Leonard credited his performance and health to taking games off for "load management":

Los Angeles has allowed Leonard to continue to sit games out from time to time because of load management after signing him to a three-year max contract during the offseason.

He is averaging 26.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.1 steals this season.

With the three-time All-Star out, 2018-19 NBA MVP finalist Paul George—who made his season debut on Thursday—will assume the responsibilities of being the No. 1 option.