Kawhi Leonard will miss tonight's Game 3 between the Suns and Clippers with a right knee sprain, ESPN reported.
The absence compounds Los Angeles' injury issues, with Paul George likely missing the entire series with a knee injury of his own.
The spread for this game has deteriorated on account of the news. While the consensus market price had been Suns -3.5 before Leonard was ruled out, that line is now Suns -6.5, by far the biggest road favorites so far this NBA postseason.
At BetMGM, Phoenix moved from -175 favorites to -250 then quickly to -275, where it's settled as of Thursday afternoon. In a corresponding move, the Clippers went from slight +145 home underdogs to +195, then +220.
The Suns broke the Scott Foster curse in Game 2 by winning and covering, just the first time in over a decade a Chris Paul-led team has done so with Foster as referee. That was, too, after the Suns went down as many as 13 points in the first half.
It's not immediately clear whether Leonard will be available for the remainder of the series. The former Finals MVP has suffered from right knee problems since 2021, when he received ACL surgery. Since then, he's periodically missed games every season due to the lingering ailment.
