With a healthy Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs were knocking on the door of a Game 1 win and upsetting the balance of power in the West, if only for a game. A questionable foul – and thousands of words of speculation – later and the Warriors found themselves in a much more comfortable position. Well, add another pillow to the couch, as the road gets even easier for Golden State in San Antonio.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich announced on Saturday morning that Leonard would be out for Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.
Kawhi Leonard will not play tonight, per Coach Pop
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) May 20, 2017
This comes a day after Leonard was upgraded to questionable and it seemed like he might give it a go.
https://twitter.com/SportsLeakers/status/865634876283731968
Pop on Kawhi: "I guess it's my decision. He's not thrilled that he's not playing, but he's not ready, so we're not going to play him."
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) May 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/JustinTinsley/status/865957085909057537
https://twitter.com/melissarohlin/status/865958636916441088
Danny Green – "No Kawhi? There's still hope, I mean I'm still gonna hope until tipoff that he might show up with a cape."
— Cayleigh Griffin (@cayleighgriffin) May 20, 2017
Pop on if Tim helps #Spurs by being at practice: "Tim can't help us a lick. He can't play dead anymore. He just comes for the free lunch."
— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) May 20, 2017
San Antonio was already down Parker heading into the series and was going to need their MVP candidate to be at his absolute best, handling the ball and running the show. In Game 1, he was phenomenal prior to the tweaked ankle, and was equally as efficient on offense as he was on defense locking down the Warriors’ high-powered attack.
Without him, the Spurs don’t have the engine they need to score consistently, and there’s always the problem of LaMarcus Aldridge being tentative.
Winning on the road is never a given, but with the Warriors playing some of their best basketball in these Playoffs, and still no Kawhi, a sweep seems inevitable. Which would bring us one step closer to another edition of Cavs-Warriors in the Finals. Not that that’s such a bad thing.
