{"id":544042,"date":"2026-01-18T03:17:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T03:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/544042\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T03:17:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T03:17:52","slug":"clippers-announce-kawhi-leonard-injury-update-before-raptors-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/544042\/","title":{"rendered":"Clippers Announce Kawhi Leonard Injury Update Before Raptors Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kawhi Leonard<\/a> is not playing on Friday night as the Los Angeles Clippers<\/a> take on the Toronto Raptors<\/a> on the road. Leonard was ruled out of the game with a right ankle sprain, marking the first time he\u2019s sitting out after playing 24 straight games for L.A.<\/p>\n

Leonard has been integral to the Clippers\u2019 recent run. They have won 11 out of their last 13 games. During that stretch, the six-time All-Star averaged 32.7 points on 50.7% shooting, 6.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.0 blocks in 35.3 minutes per contest. Leonard also knocked down 3.9 triples per game on a 44.0% clip.<\/p>\n

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\"Los<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2)Gary A&period; Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

(Gary A&period; Vasquez-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

The bad news for the Clippers is that Leonard has been forced to sit out Friday\u2019s game. The 34-year-old has been sidelined with a right ankle sprain, which is an injury that he has been nursing over the past couple of games.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, that isn\u2019t the only issue for Leonard. The Clippers announced that the two-time NBA<\/a> champion forward is also dealing with a left knee contusion. The team revealed that Leonard sustained the injury in Saturday\u2019s win over the Detroit Pistons<\/a>, per Law Murray of The Athletic<\/a>. Leonard is currently considered day-to-day.<\/p>\n

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The Clippers enter Friday\u2019s game with a 17-23 record. They still have a long way to go before reaching the .500 mark, but they have been trending in the right direction of late. Leonard\u2019s absence is a blow for L.A., especially if he misses more than one game.<\/p>\n

Leonard, who has been playing through both a sprained ankle and a knee contusion, will get a couple of days of rest before the Clippers\u2019 next game. His next chance to play will be on Monday against the Washington Wizards<\/a>. That will be a back-to-back set for L.A., though, with a game against the Chicago Bulls<\/a> scheduled for Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Related: Clippers Announce James Harden Injury Update for Knicks Game<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Jan 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the NBA<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kawhi Leonard is not playing on Friday night as the Los Angeles Clippers take on the Toronto Raptors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3789],"tags":[7168,7,329,559,188,529,4034,192,4032,251,135,4033,4031,6,476,468],"class_list":{"0":"post-544042","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-clippers","8":"tag-ankle-sprain","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-chicago-bulls","11":"tag-clippers","12":"tag-detroit-pistons","13":"tag-kawhi-leonard","14":"tag-la","15":"tag-la-clippers","16":"tag-laclippers","17":"tag-los-angeles","18":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","19":"tag-losangeles","20":"tag-losangelesclippers","21":"tag-nba","22":"tag-toronto-raptors","23":"tag-washington-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115913943849910205","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}