After a broken foot sidelined him for nearly two months, LA Clippers guard Norman Powell plans to return to the lineup against the Phoenix Suns Wednesday night, sources said.
Powell, who was upgraded to questionable for Wednesday afternoon’s home game, intends to warm up before the game before a final decision on his availability is made in the evening, sources said. He was released to practice with the team on Tuesday.
Powell’s return is significant as the Clippers prepare to begin the Western Conference playoffs. The Clippers are 39-40 and secure in eighth place for the play-in tournament scheduled for April 12-15.
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With Powell’s return, the Clippers will be as healthy as they have been all season. Paul George has recently returned to the game and has featured in three of the last four games. Powell and George have yet to play together this season.
Kawhi Leonard has not played this season after undergoing surgery on July 13 to repair a cruciate ligament tear in his right area. He suffered the injury last season during Game 4 of the Clippers’ second round playoff series on June 14.
Leonard completed individual practice Tuesday before the Clippers’ practice and could be seen shooting jab step, midrange and 3-point shots and also dribbled and turning and also shooting from the midrange.
There’s no timeline for Leonard’s recovery, but Powell’s return gives the Clippers another goalscorer and a chance to see what he can do alongside George.
“It’s exciting to see what he can do when he comes back,” forward Robert Covington said of Powell on Tuesday. “And once we have our full team back, it’s going to be scary. It gets very scary because you have so much firepower across the team at any given point.”
Powell is averaging a career-high 18.8 points on 41% 3-point shooting this season. Before the injury, he only played three games with the Clippers after trading with the Portland Trail Blazers, which saw Robert Covington join him in Los Angeles.
Powell signed a five-year, $90 million deal with Portland in August after being traded from Toronto at the March 2021 trade close. Powell spent his first more than five seasons with the Raptors, which went from being a UCLA second-round pick to a key member of playoff teams and becoming the 2019 NBA champion in Toronto.