LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were non-committal about their availability for Sunday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Only James Harden hinted that he would play in the second matinee game of the weekend.
“That’s the goal,” he said Saturday after the Clippers rallied for a 112-102 victory over the Chicago Bulls at Crypto.com Arena.
The three future Hall of Famers were questionable going into Saturday’s game with a various assortment of sore body parts. Leonard had left groin soreness, George a sore left knee and Harden, who has played in every game since coming to the Clippers, was dealing with a strained left shoulder.
All three then turned around and played significant minutes against the Bulls.
“I’m just taking it one game at a time and working extremely hard to stay healthy and keeping my body in great shape,” said George, who logged 40 minutes.
“I’ll talk to T-Lue (Coach Tyronn Lue), talk to the staff and we’ll see based off tomorrow.”
Leonard, who played 38 minutes, said he wasn’t sure about his status.
“Maybe,” Leonard said. “I mean, we’ll talk to (the medical staff) and see. You know, I don’t have an answer for you right now. But we’ll see what happens.”
The status of their three is expected given the Clippers’ heavy schedule going forward. Sunday’s contest is the second of a five-games-in-seven-days stretch that includes a game Tuesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are a half-game out of first place in the Western Conference.
The Clippers (41-21) are in fourth place, 2.5 games out of first, with 20 games remaining.
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Harden said the Clippers are not concerned about their rugged playoff stretch.
“Just take it a game at a time. We’ll figure it out,” he said.
Will the team have any sort of conversation about how to proceed?
“I dunno. I’ll say it again. I feel good. We win. Clippers win. We’ll be good,” Harden said.
HYLAND IMPRESSIVE AGAIN
Bones Hyland turned in another strong game in his fifth game as part of the Clippers rotation. He came off the bench and posted 10 points, two rebounds, one assist and three steals in 13 minutes.
The third-year guard is averaging 4.3 points in his return to the lineup.
“He’s playing well on both sides of the floor,” said associate head coach Dan Craig. “More than anything he just wants to contribute. He wants to help us win, whether (he’s playing) five minutes or 20 minutes.”