HOUSTON -- To decrease the likelihood of Kawhi Leonard suffering a setback as he recovers from quadriceps tendinopathy, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Leonard will not play Saturday when the club returns home to host the Dallas Mavericks.
Saturday's game would be the tail end of a back-to-back set for the Spurs, who lost to the Houston Rockets, 124-109, on Friday night.
Popovich said he plans to handle Leonard's recovery similarly to the way the team brought back veteran point guard Tony Parker, who like Leonard is being held out of playing in back-to-back sets. Parker made his season debut in November, after suffering a torn quadriceps tendon last May during the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets. He is still sitting out one game of back-to-backs.
Leonard made his season debut Tuesday at Dallas, playing just 16 minutes while contributing 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go with six rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. Leonard remained on a minutes restriction Friday night against the Rockets, scoring 12 points in 17 minutes.
"He came out OK," Popovich said, referring to Leonard's condition after Tuesday's game. "It's going to take some time. We're going to keep him on a minutes restriction for a while just to make sure."
A two-time All-Star, Leonard finished last season with career highs in points (25.5 point average), and assists (3.5), in addition to averaging 1.8 steals.
