The San Antonio Spurs entered Thursday evening with a 4-3 record. That’s a perfectly acceptable mark for this point of the season, especially considering Kawhi Leonard has yet to suit up. San Antonio’s MVP hopeful is still sidelined as he is working his way back from an injury in his right quadriceps.
But there is some good news, as Leonard’s return may be in the not too distant future. In the midst of San Antonio’s game against Golden State on Thursday, TNT’s Kristen Ledlow said that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has put a hopeful timetable on Leonard taking the floor this season.
Coach Pop tells us it "could be tomorrow – could be a month from now," on Kawhi's (quad) return, but hopeful for the next 3 weeks. #SASvsGSW
— Kristen Ledlow (@KristenLedlow) November 3, 2017
San Antonio has missed Leonard’s ability to score — LaMarcus Aldridge is averaging more than 23 points per game, but beyond him, the Spurs don’t have anyone averaging more than 12.1 points a night. The team’s defense has been stout this season, and while having a player the caliber of Leonard would make any defense better, the Spurs’ offense needs him more than anything.
Meanwhile, back in San Antonio, Spurs fans don’t seem like they they’re over Zaza Pachulia injuring Leonard during Game 1 of last year’s Western Conference Finals.
Sure, the injury that has held Leonard out this season is unrelated to what happened last spring, but seeing as how the series played out before and after the MVP candidate’s injury, San Antonio fans probably won’t forgive Pachulia any time soon.
