Gregg Popovich: Kawhi Leonard ‘Likely’ to Miss Game 4

“It woudn’t make much sense” for Kawhi Leonard to suit up in tonight’s Game 4, according to Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.

With the Warriors holding a commanding 3-0 series lead, Pop isn’t holding out hope for the superstar forward’s sprained left ankle to suddenly heal.

Golden State is looking to put San Antonio out of their misery, and move on to the NBA Finals.

Per the Express-News:

“It wouldn’t make much sense,” Popovich said of playing Leonard in Game 4. “If he’s unable to play yesterday, I don’t think there’s going to be a miraculous healing by tomorrow.”

 

Leonard, who tweaked his already sprained ankle in the third quarter of Game 1 of the series after landing on Zaza Pachulia’s foot, missed the rest of that game and without him, the Warriors used an 18-0 run to overcome a 25-point deficit to win, 113-111. Leonard also missed the Spurs’ 136-100 loss to the Warriors in Game 2, and their 120-108 loss in Game 3.
 

Popovich even mustered up a bit of humor, joking that the Spurs have the Warriors right where they want them.

 

“Those guys were out til 4 last night, eating sundaes and eating burgers and all of that,” he said. “They’ll probably get up today at about 2 in the afternoon. They’re going to play poker all afternoon, stay out again tonight, and we’ll have our way with them.”