The San Antonio Spurs will have all their household names back in the lineup tonight.
Coach Gregg Popovich announced after today’s shootaround that star forward Kawhi Leonard will play tonight vs. the Dallas Mavericks (8:30 ET, NBA League Pass). Additionally, guard Danny Green will be back in the lineup as well, leaving forward Kyle Anderson as the lone Spurs player nursing an injury.
Per Coach Pop, both Danny & Kawhi will play tonight in Dallas.#GoSpursGo
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) December 12, 2017
The scene in Dallas at #Spurs shoot around … Kawhi getting up shots pic.twitter.com/lUZRyPkTOK
— Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) December 12, 2017
Leonard, who will be on a minutes restriction tonight, has missed all 27 of the Spurs’ games this season while recovering from right quadriceps tendinopathy, a condition that causes pain and weakness in the knee.
Leonard last played in Game 1 of last season’s Western Conference finals. He hurt his left ankle in the opener of that series against Golden State, turning it while trying to land after a jump shot and coming down on the foot of Warriors center Zaza Pachulia.
Even without Leonard, who averaged a career-best 25.5 points last season and is a two-time defensive player of the year, the Spurs are 19-8 this season and third in the Western Conference.
As a side note, a viral video of Leonard hit the internet last night via Instagram. In it, Leonard appears to be practicing karate in a kid’s class. The video originally surfaced as part of Foot Locker’s Instagram story and was later reposted by Instgrame user @kawhinot, an unofficial Kawhi fanpage on Instagram.
KAWHI LEONARD GETTING READY TO CHOP Y'ALL UP…. KARATE STYLE đŸ˜…
(via @footlocker / IG story) pic.twitter.com/S6KjYz4tRl
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) December 12, 2017
According to Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News, Leonard’s video was shot last week as part of a forthcoming Jordan Brand/Gatorade commercial.
Asked Kawhi when he shot that karate video. Told me it was last week….for a Jordan/Gatorade commercial #Spurs
— Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) December 12, 2017
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
