Kawhi Leonard played 19 minutes in his season debut and scored 12 points on 4-for-11 shooting, including three 3-pointers.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Kawhi Leonard made his season debut for the Los Angeles Clippers in Saturday night’s 131-105 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at the Intuit Dome.
Leonard, who missed the Clippers’ first 34 games with what the team described as right knee injury recovery, played 19 minutes. He was 4-for-11 from the floor, including three 3-pointers, along with three rebounds and one assist.
“It felt great,” Leonard said about his first game action in 254 days. “I was able to throw some paint on the canvas tonight … we’re working to create something beautiful, so let’s keep it going.”
Norman Powell scored 20 points and Ivica Zubac had 18 points and 18 rebounds as the Clippers snapped a two-game losing streak.
It was Leonard’s first NBA game action since April 26, when he played 25 minutes and scored nine points in Game 3 of the Clippers’ Western Conference first-round playoff series against Dallas. The Clippers lost that game and were eventually eliminated in six games.
Coach Tyronn Lue said Leonard will be on a minutes restriction as he gets up to speed.
“This is like his preseason and training camp because he hasn’t had that. Everybody who’s playing tonight had a training camp and they played 30-35 games,” Lue said. “We’re going to make sure we bring him back slowly. It’s a great step in the right direction tonight, but we’ve got to make sure we’re doing it the right way.”
Leonard appeared in 68 regular-season games in 2023-24, but missed 12 of the final 14 with right knee inflammation. He then came back for two games during the playoffs. He was picked for the Olympic team but was sent home during the training camp in Las Vegas when the USA Basketball staff felt Leonard’s knee was not healthy enough to play.
Leonard has missed 290 regular-season games over the last eight years, including all of the 2021-22 season with knee trouble after being injured in the 2021 Western Conference semifinals against Utah.
The Clippers are also got back guard Terance Mann, who missed 10 games due to a broken left middle finger.
LA improves to 19-15 and sits in seventh place in the Western Conference. Lue said with Leonard and Mann’s return, it might take a couple games to figure out everyone’s roles.
“So just going back to the drawing board, trying to find the right rotation and guys who play well with each other. And so that’s going to be the toughest task,” Lue said.
