{"id":669576,"date":"2026-03-20T22:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T22:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/669576\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T22:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T22:22:14","slug":"is-kawhi-leonard-playing-tonight-clippers-vs-pelicans-injury-report-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/669576\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Kawhi Leonard playing tonight? Clippers vs. Pelicans injury report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is Kawhi Leonard playing tonight? Clippers vs. Pelicans injury report<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The LA Clippers are in the middle of a three-game road trip<\/a>, currently in New Orleans on Thursday night for the second night of a back-to-back set and the fifth game in a tough five-in-seven stretch<\/a> for the team.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Seven-time NBA All-Star Kawhi Leonard<\/a> returned from a one-game absence on Wednesday night and played against the Pelicans. Leonard was previously unable to take part in Monday night\u2019s loss against the San Antonio Spurs due to a left ankle sprain suffered late in Saturday night\u2019s game against the Sacramento Kings.<\/p>\n

Leonard departed the Kings game in the fourth quarter and was subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the game. Kawhi Leonard made a quick recovery in time to play on Wednesday night, but will be play again on Thursday night?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything we know about Kawhi Leonard\u2019s injury status for tonight\u2019s game vs. the Pelicans.<\/p>\n

Kawhi Leonard\u2019s injury status vs. Pelicans<\/p>\n

Kawhi Leonard was listed as \u201cQuestionable\u201d to play in the Clippers\u2019 first contest against the Pelicans, and was ultimately upgraded to available . Leonard is once again listed on the Clippers injury report for Thursday night, listed as\u201dQuestionable\u201d for the game with a left ankle sprain. It is the second night of a back-to-back set coming off an injury, so Leonard\u2019s status would very much up in the air.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Just ahead of the game, the LA Clippers have announced that Leonard has been ruled OUT for the game. The franchise has historically been cautious history with the two-time NBA Finals MVP, but Leonard has pushed to play as many games as possible, especially as the team fights for playoff positioning.<\/p>\n

Something else to monitor is that guard Darius Garland has been ruled out of Thursday night\u2019s game with the left toe injury management. He hasn\u2019t played in any back-to-backs since returning, and there\u2019s no reason to believe he will at any point this season.<\/p>\n

Kawhi Leonard has gotten a bad rap among NBA fans due to his unfortunate injuries, but he\u2019s played in both halves of nine back-to-back sets during the 2025-26 regular season with the Clippers, showcasing his ability to stay healthy and produce at a high level. In past years, the Clippers had been holding him out of most back-to-back sets due to the serious injuries he\u2019s dealt with, such as the torn ACL that ended his 2021 and 2022 postseasons, the torn meniscus that cut his 2023 postseason, and the inflammation in the knee that caused him to miss the 2024 postseason.<\/p>\n

\"Gary<\/p>\n

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Leonard has been mostly healthy this season, playing 54 of the Clippers\u2019 69 games thus far. 10 of the 15 games Leonard has missed were due to a severe right ankle sprain back in November. Despite suffering a left ankle injury against the Spurs, Leonard passed Bob McAdoo with his 45th straight game of 20+ points, setting a new franchise record. Leonard scored 25 points with eight rebounds on 9-of-12 shooting from the field on Wednesday, extending his streak of 20+ point games to 46, the second-longest active streak behind Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cPassing McAdoo is a great accomplishment,\u201d Tyronn Lue said of Kawhi Leonard recently. \u201cHe was a really good player, great player, and it just says a lot about Kawhi. When he\u2019s healthy, you know, what he\u2019s done this year is crazy. Someone asked the other day, \u2018Have you seen someone do this in their 14th season, averaging more than they\u2019ve average their whole career?\u2019 and I said, \u2018No, I\u2019m not surprised.\u2019 Because I see the work he puts in every day. I see what he does every night just to try to get on the floor and play. Him being healthy, like he is, it\u2019s just how he plays. And it could be a long run for him to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

This season, the Clippers are 30-24 in the 53 games that Kawhi Leonard has played and 4-11 in the 15 games he hasn\u2019t. They\u2019re also 0-3 in the three games that Leonard has left in the fourth quarter due to injury \u2014 against the Heat, Lakers, and Kings.<\/p>\n

Leonard is averaging 28.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.0 steals while shooting 50.4 percent from the field, 38.3 percent from three, and 89.8 percent from the free-throw line. The 28.2 points are a career-high.<\/p>\n

The Clippers have put together a 34-35 record, turning their season around and going 28-14 since starting the season 6-21. They have, however, lost three games in a row and could be looking at a fourth straight loss as they take on the Pelicans without Leonard and Garland.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Clippers\u2019 injury report<\/p>\n

The Clippers have five players listed on the injury report for Wednesday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

Kawhi Leonard (left ankle sprain): Out<\/p>\n

Darius Garland (left toe injury management): Out<\/p>\n

Bradley Beal (left hip fracture): Out<\/p>\n

Yanic Konan Niederhauser (right Lisfranc ligament tear): Out<\/p>\n

Bennedict Mathurin (right toe injury recovery): Out<\/p>\n

Pelicans\u2019 injury report<\/p>\n

The Pelicans have five players listed on the injury report for Wednesday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

Trey Alexander (G League \u2013 Two Way): Out<\/p>\n

Hunter Dickerson (G League \u2013 Two Way): Out<\/p>\n

Bryce McGowens (right small toe fracture): Out<\/p>\n

Dejounte Murray (right Achilles injury management): Out<\/p>\n

Josh Oduro (G League \u2013 Two Way): Out<\/p>\n

The New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> defeated the Clippers, 124-109, in their last game on Wednesday night. Thursday\u2019s game between the Clippers and Pelicans is the fourth and final contest between the two teams this season.<\/p>\n

Related: Clippers make big change amid Kawhi Leonard return<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Pelicans star Dejounte Murray upgraded to available on injury report vs. Clippers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Is Kawhi Leonard playing tonight? Clippers vs. Pelicans injury report appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3796],"tags":[7,363,3086,7214,791,2878,63183,53046,529,192,300,6,478,470,4073,4072,179,675,477,474,209,4439,61102,8030,10948],"class_list":["post-669576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-basketball","tag-bennedict-mathurin","tag-bradley-beal","tag-bryce-mcgowens","tag-darius-garland","tag-dejounte-murray","tag-injury-status","tag-josh-oduro","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-la-clippers","tag-lakers","tag-nba","tag-new-orleans","tag-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-neworleans","tag-neworleanspelicans","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-pelicans","tag-sacramento-kings","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-the-pelicans","tag-toe-injury","tag-trey-alexander","tag-yanic-konan-niederhauser"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116263843595219825","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669576","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=669576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}