On Wednesday, we get the first true litmus test of the NBA cracking down on teams resting stars in one leg of a back-to-back this season. That's because the Los Angeles Clippers played Tuesday night and are in action again tonight vs. the Lakers. We know James Harden isn't ready to debut for his new team after Tuesday's big trade, but the big question is whether Kawhi Leonard will play. He hasn't suited up for the second game of a back-to-back in recent years. The Lakers are -6 on the SportsLine consensus.
Shams Charania is reporting that Harden won't make his season debut until next Monday at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks – Los Angeles is off until then after Wednesday's game. That also could factor in on Leonard playing. Due to injuries and a strict rest schedule, Leonard has not played in more than 60 games in any season since 2016-17. This writer can't remember Leonard playing more than a few back-to-backs since his lone season in Toronto (2018-19).
One key part of the new rules is that no more than one star player can be unavailable for the same game if healthy – the Clippers would be able to skirt that if they rested Leonard but played Paul George. Clubs also must maintain a balance between the number of one-game absences for a star player in home games and road games, with a preference for those to happen in home games. Teams also must ensure that stars are available for national TV and in-season tournament games, and this is an ESPN game.
Clippers coach Ty Lue said this regarding the new policy last month: "If our players are healthy, they're going to play. I know there's a big thing, like, our guys don't like to play or whatever, but that's not true. Our guys want to play. Unfortunately, they've had injuries ... So, if our guys are healthy, they're going to play, and that's all we're really focused on."
Leonard played 33 minutes in Tuesday's 118-102 win over the Magic but wasn't his usual self, shooting 3-for-11 for just eight points. Lue said Leonard looked a little tired, but Kawhi said he came out of the game feeling good when asked how he felt iabout playing Wednesday. Lue added he will see how Leonard and George are feeling after Wednesday's shootaround.
The Lakers are coming off their own home win over Orlando, a 106-103 victory on Monday. The Lakers shot a season-best 53.2% from the field in the second game of a back-to-back. D'Angelo Russell scored 12 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, and LeBron James added nine of his 19 in the final period. The Lakers finished the game on a 12-5 run.
The Clippers have won 11 straight games against the Lakers, who are the official home team tonight. The sportsbooks aren't offering any Clippers player props as of yet.
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