Kawhi Leonard misses Game 4 against Dallas Mavericks due injury

For the Game 4 in the first round of the playoff series Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard has been ruled out due to right knee inflammation. On Sunday Los Angeles Clippers will face of Dallas Mavericks. Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks are leading the playoff series by 2-1. Los Angeles Clippers president Lawrence Frank announced on Sunday Kawhi Leonard's availability in Game 4 just two hours before the game starts.

However, Kawhi Leonard missed the last eight games of the regular season and the series 1st game but was part of the team in the second and third games. During the Game 3 loss of Los Angeles Clippers Kawhi Leonard was struggling. He could only manage to score nine points in 25 minutes of play. Meanwhile, Los Angeles Clippers won Game 1 without Kawhi Leonard as James Harden scoring 28 points helped the team to win by 109-97.

Paul George scored 22 points in each of the first two games before being held to seven in Game 3. It was only his second postseason game in the single digits since joining the Clippers in 2018-19. Kawhi Leonard's career has been dealt with injuries as he almost missed the 2017-18 NBA season. Since then Kawhi Leonard has appeared in 68 regular-season games, the most by the two-time NBA champion since the 2016-17 season with San Antonio.

Los Angeles Clippers have chance to level the series

Leonard had a productive regular season, averaging 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 52.5% from the field and 41.7% from three. The Clippers have the potential to tie it at 2-2 in today's game, which means Los Angeles Clippers effectively start over in Game 5. But it will be difficult to reach that stage without Leonard, even if he hasn't been playing well lately.

Last season, the Clippers fell in the first round to Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns. The series winner will face either the Thunder or the Pelicans.