Is Kawhi Leonard playing tonight? Latest injury update for Clippers vs. Mavs, Game 6

The Los Angeles Clippers fell short in Game 5 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night. They now face elimination as the series shifts back to Dallas for Game 6 tonight.

To make matters worse, the Clippers have been without one of their key players in veteran forward Kawhi Leonard. He has been dealing with right knee inflammation.

Though the Clippers did manage to win two games without him, they still found themselves at a disadvantage in Game 5, and not having him proved to be costly.

Unfortunately, the Clippers are going to be without him again for Game 6. Leonard is listed as out on today's NBA injury report.

Kawhi Leonard is out for Game 6 against the Mavericks

This is bad news for the Clippers.

While they did manage to win two games without him, they need him now more than ever, and not having him available for an elimination game on the road puts them at a major disadvantage tonight.

In order to win Game 6 and extend their season at least one more day, the Clippers are going to need big games from James Harden and Paul George. Harden did not perform well in Game 5 and will need to remedy that in Game 6 for the Clippers to force a Game 7.

Leonard has dealt with more than his fair share of injuries during his time as a Clipper. He missed large chunks of the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons before finally remaining healthy for most of the regular season. He averaged 23.7 points per game, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists while shooting 52.5 percent from the field and 41.7 from 3-point range.

But it's crunch time for the Clippers, and the last thing they need right now is to be without arguably their best player.

We'll see if George and Harden can pick up the slack and give the Clippers the lift they need in order to stave off elimination tonight. Tip-off is at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time and the game will air on ESPN.