The final word came down late Sunday morning.
The inflammation in Kawhi Leonard’s right knee kept him out of the Clippers’ playoff opener against the Dallas Mavericks.
And, so, Paul George, James Harden and the rest of Clippers coach Tyronn Lue’s group had to press forward without their best player.
Harden and George did their parts just enough, but the Clippers still crawled to the finish line, doing enough to build a 29-point third-quarter lead and escape with a 109-97 lead over the Mavericks.
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George had 11 of his 22 in the fourth quarter and Harden had 20 of his 28 in the first half to help the Clippers take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series.