On Wednesday night, the San Antonio Spurs meet the Dallas Mavericks. While the Spurs are currently in third place at the Western Conference and will be coming to Dallas with a series of four consecutive wins at the American Airlines Center, Dirk Nowitzki’s Mavs are the worst team in the West. The Texas duel is enhanced by the possible comeback of superstar Kawhi Leonard (from 2:30 a. m. in the LEAGUE PASS).
It is difficult to predict whether Kawhi Leonard will be making his comeback in the NBA tonight. Originally, the San Antonio Spurs had planned to play last Saturday against the Phoenix Suns for the return of the two-time defensive Player of the Year, but this game came too early. In the night from Monday to Tuesday, the Spurs told us via Twitter that Leonard is listed as “likely” for the game against the Mavs, as well as Danny Green. Kyle Anderson, on the other hand, will be missing San Antonio for a long time with an internal ligament tear. The forward contracted the injury last week against OKC.
For a long time, the violation of Kawhi Leonard was a well-kept franchise secret of the Spurs. After it was clear that Leonard would miss the start of the season, Spurs coach Greg Popovich indicated to ESPN that it could be a thigh injury from the previous season. Later it became known that Leonard is suffering from a tendon injury to the quadriceps – or more precisely, tendopathy due to overload or wear and tear.
Kawhi Leonard’s last match to date is now almost seven months to the day. At that time, the Small Forward suffered an ankle injury in game one of the Western Conference finals against the Golden State Warriors and missed the rest of the series against the later champion. Since the 14th. May so Leonard didn’t play in the NBA anymore.
In short: Extremely important. Prior to his injury, Leonard was considered one of the favourites for the MVP Award and is also twice defensive player of the year. Last season Leonard put on an average of 25.5 points and cannot be replaced for the Spurs.
It is all the more astonishing that the Spurs are currently in third place at the Western Conference with a balance sheet of 19-8 and at least close to the Warriors and Rockets.
In addition to Leonard, Tony Parker was also absent from the Spurs for several months. Like Leonard, the 35-year-old Point Guard was injured at the quadriceps, but suffered a tendon rupture in the West Semis against the Houston Rockets. Just under two weeks ago, Parker made his comeback. Incidentally, the Dallas Mavericks were also opponents at that time.
The game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks can only be seen in the LEAGUE PASS in Germany.
The Western Conference this season has been a clear affair so far: the Houston Rockets march away to James Harden and the Golden State Warriors with Stephen Curry. The San Antonio Spurs with a balance sheet of 19-8 is almost like the Best of the Rest. The Dallas Mavericks are currently the worst team in the West. With the playoffs, Dirk Nowitzki, Maxi Kleber and Co. this season, absolutely nothing.