Published By: Sports Desk
Last Updated: March 11, 2024, 00:30 IST
Read all newest and breaking Sports News on News18.com
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are sitting out Sunday when the Los Angeles Clippers host Milwaukee of their second early afternoon sport in two days.
LOS ANGELES: Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are sitting out Sunday when the Los Angeles Clippers host Milwaukee of their second early afternoon sport in two days.
The NBA scheduled the Clippers to tip off at 12 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday after they beat Chicago 112-102 with a 1 p.m. begin time on Saturday. Factoring within the hour misplaced to sunlight saving time, that’s two tipoffs in 22 hours for the Clippers (41-21), who determined to not put these calls for on the lingering accidents nursed by Leonard and George.
“Very extreme,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue stated. “That’s why we’re just so excited to get to the Intuit Dome next year, get our own place.”
The Clippers have shared the downtown enviornment lengthy often called Staples Center because it opened in 1999 with the Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. The Lakers face Minnesota on Sunday night time, whereas the Kings misplaced 4-1 to Dallas on Saturday night time.
The 17-time NBA champion Lakers are the preferred sports activities group by most measures within the U.S.’ second-largest metropolitan space, whereas the downtown enviornment is owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group, which additionally owns the Kings.
That normally leaves the Clippers with a number of unfavorable scheduling challenges every year — together with common afternoon house video games on weekends, due to the need of scheduling a mixed 123 regular-season sporting occasions in the course of the concurrent NBA and NHL seasons. Sunday’s Clippers-Lakers doubleheader was the 261st within the constructing’s historical past.
Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers was the Clippers’ coach from 2013 to 2020, and he by no means obtained used to the group’s scheduling challenges.
“It was awful,” Rivers stated. “I think we did two or three of these (back-to-back afternoon weekend games) a year. It’s just not natural. Being here, you get used to it, but it’s still not normal.”
The excellent news is that this back-to-back afternoon house weekend is nearly definitely the final in Clippers historical past.
Billionaire Clippers proprietor Steve Ballmer will open the palatial Intuit Dome in Inglewood subsequent season, ending a quarter-century of third-choice tenancy for the franchise he bought in 2014. The Clippers additionally hope to obtain extra nationwide tv showcases with extra regular sport instances.
The enviornment is the following main step for a franchise that has already shaken off its repute as not-so-lovable losers from its lengthy, undistinguished historical past, which included earlier stops in Buffalo and San Diego. The Clippers have been a perennial afterthought in Los Angeles and the NBA after they moved into Staples Center, however they’ve been remodeled into annual Western Conference contenders since former proprietor Donald Sterling was ousted from the league.
Lue’s present group wants only one extra win to safe the Clippers’ thirteenth consecutive successful season, and the addition of James Harden this 12 months has turned them right into a critical contender for his or her first title. Harden intends to play in each video games this weekend, Lue stated.
Leonard and George hadn’t missed the identical sport this season for the Clippers, ending 4 years of normal absences and relaxation days for the 2 All-Star veterans.
Leonard has left groin soreness, and George has a sore left knee. Leonard performed 38 minutes within the Clippers’ house win over the Bulls on Saturday afternoon, and George performed 40 minutes.
Leonard sat out your entire 2021-22 season whereas recovering from proper knee surgical procedure, whereas George has endured quite a few damage absences. The 57 video games already performed by each Leonard and George this season are each essentially the most they’ve performed of their 5 years with the Clippers.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
