Kawhi Leonard returns to the Clippers lineup – Orange County Register

Los Angeles — they baaack..

‘All of them. I’m finally healthy.

Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Nikola Batum and Luke Kennard all returned to action on Friday to rematch the hottest Utah Jazz with the Clippers nationwide.

All of them were expected to play a limited amount, their respective coaches said.

George missed the previous seven games of the Clippers and had a swollen right toe bone. Leonard missed three games due to a bruise on his left lower limb.

Their starter, Batum, is back after missing two games in a concussion against the Clippers against Cleveland on Sunday.

Tyronn Lue’s starting members Leonard, George, Batoum, Patrick Beverley and Serge Ibaka are back on January 24, when Patrick Beverley left the Clippers’ victory in Oklahoma City in half-time. It means that it was unharmed for the first time since then. My right knee hurts. The quintet joined the game on Friday together on the court this season with a net rating of plus 25.4 in 167 minutes.

Kennard was scratched late Wednesday, when the short-handed Clippers lost to Jazz 114-96, hurt his right knee and scored nine straight and 20 wins in 21 games.

In Utah, Conley, who lost the season’s highest 33 points to the Clippers when Jazz defeated the Clippers on New Year’s Day in Salt Lake City, returned after missing six games due to pain in the right hamstring. ..

“Well, especially the first two are pretty good players,” said jazz coach Quin Snyder about the Clippers-stars Leonard and George. “There is no mystery. From our team, we need to play well to win at many levels, including the level of respect for the team, the way we teach and the way we play.”

Lou said: “Mixing PG and Kawai with Nick will definitely change … it adds a different dimension to our team. We play differently, our style of play is on the floor. Different from people, it will be a different game tonight, and we will see. ”

Lou said the recent training of his athletes helped the team’s medical staff determine that they were ready to return.

“How are they getting better and how well their bodies respond to the training they are doing,” Lou said. “That’s why tonight is night.”

Especially for George, Lou said he was waiting for the pain and swelling of the Palmdale natives to subside.