Last season Kawhi Leonard did not play both games of a back-to-back for the Toronto Raptors throughout the entire season. The theory behind the Raptors decision was simple. Leonard had only played nine games in 2017-18 for the San Antonio Spurs and they wanted to make sure he was well rested and playing at a high capacity in time for the postseason.
Keeping Leonard fresh paid off for the Raptors as they won their first championship in franchise history. However, their unique approach was not enough to convince Leonard to re-sign with them, as the superstar elected to sign a three year contract with the Los Angeles Clippers worth $103 million on July 10.
Heading into tonight’s NBA action, the Clippers are using the Raptors approach when it comes to back-to-back games. They have decided to rest Leonard on Wednesday night against the Utah Jazz, and will play him on Halloween night at home against the Spurs instead. It will be Leonard’s first game with Los Angeles against San Antonio.
The term the Clippers are using as the reason why Leonard is not playing is “load management.” Leonard only played 60 of the 82 games in all of 2018-19.
One issue Doc Rivers and the Clippers will have to realize however is that over the last few years getting out of the Western Conference is a lot more difficult than getting out of the Eastern Conference. It was a slam dunk that the Raptors were going to make the postseason last season, and they were still going to be very competitive with Leonard off the court. The same cannot be said for the Clippers in the West in 2019-2020. The Clippers are significantly weaker without Leonard and may need his services in the 70-75 game range in order for them to comfortably make the playoffs.
The Clippers are 3-1 at the moment, with Leonard averaging 27 points per game. Twice this season Leonard scored 30 points in a game. He reached that mark in a 112-102 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night and in a 111-96 win over the Charlotte Hornets on October 28.
