UPDATE:
Kawhi has received stitches for a cut on his mouth after colliding with teammate Serge Ibaka, and Tyronn Lue is optimistic about his recovery.
Kawhi Leonard had 8 stitches to treat a mouth laceration after colliding with Serge Ibaka, the team says. After the game, coach Ty Lue said he believed Leonard will be “fine.”
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) December 26, 2020
EARLIER:
In the final contest of the Christmas Day slate, the Los Angeles Clippers had been clinging to a healthy lead for most of the second half, right up until the Denver Nuggets tried to stage a furious rally late and close the gap to under double digits. But in the midst of all that, we had a scary moment as the two teams battled for a rebound.
Jamal Murray came up with the loose ball and bolted down court before getting fouled, but it was the play right before that which left Kawhi Leonard bloodied on the floor after colliding with teammate Serge Ibaka as they both went up for a rebound on the other end.
Kawhi lay on the ground for several minutes with blood covering his face and shoulders as he was being attended to and was eventually taken to the locker room for medical care.
Serge Ibaka caught Kawhi with an elbow on the way up pic.twitter.com/D8UomXD8nb
— CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) December 26, 2020
Wow this angle of Kawhi getting elbowed by Ibaka pic.twitter.com/3iuqHPzU5Q
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) December 26, 2020
According to Malika Andrews, Kawhi will not return to the game and will continue to receive care.
Kawhi Leonard is out for the rest of the game and continues to be evaluated by the medical staff, the team says.
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) December 26, 2020
It remains unclear exactly what the nature of the injury is, but Kawhi obviously took a very hard blow to the face that will require extra caution. We’ll continue to update the situation as more information becomes available. The Clippers came away with the 121-108 victory to remain undefeated on the season.