Golden State Warriors vs. San Antonio Spurs: Game 3 Date, Betting Odds, Kawhi Leonard Update

The 2017 Western Conference Finals might already be just about over, but any hope of the San Antonio Spurs coming back and making it a competitive series rests on the ankle of Kawhi Leonard. The No.2 seed has fallen into a 0-2 deficit against the Golden State Warriors, and they could be looking at a sweep if their superstar doesn’t return in time for Game 3.

The scheduling of the 2017 NBA Playoffs is the only good piece of luck the Spurs have gotten this week. Because the Eastern Conference Finals don't begin until Wednesday night, Golden State and San Antonio will have three days off in between games in order to get both series back on a similar schedule.

Game 3 is set for Saturday night in San Antonio, meaning Leonard will have nearly a whole week’s rest from Game 1 before the contest is set to tip-off. But even though an MRI showed no structural damage to Leonard’s ankle, it’s still unknown if the small forward will be in uniform.

The Spurs lost Game 2 by 36 points with Leonard unavailable.

“I have no idea,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said Tuesday, via The Mercury News, regarding Leonard’s status. “It just depends on how the ankle heals. I would probably list him as questionable, but the thing that worries me is that he did the exact same thing again, so one would logically think maybe it’ll take longer. But I’m hoping that’s not true and we’ll have him for Game 3. But I don’t think we’re going to know until Friday or Saturday.”

Leonard has hurt his ankle multiple times in the past week. He sprained it on May 9 when the Spurs beat the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of their second-round series, and he re-injured it twice Sunday afternoon in Game 1, having not played for five days.

It’s become abundantly clear that the Spurs have no chance to beat the Warriors if Leonard can’t play. San Antonio managed to defeat Houston with Leonard on the bench, but that isn’t going to happen against the odds-on favorites to win the NBA Finals.

San Antonio had their chance to steal a game at Oracle Arena, taking a 23-point lead before Leonard was forced to head back to the locker room in the third quarter of the series opener. The Warriors have been utterly dominant since then, outscoring the Spurs 194 to 133.

The Warriors were 10-point home favorites in Game 1, and the betting line jumped up to 13 points in Leonard’s absence in Game 2. With Leonard’s status up in the air for Saturday night, San Antonio is a 6.5-point underdog at home

The Game 3 over/under is 212, though Leonard’s absence could make for a very high-scoring affair. Golden State’s offense has exploded since the winner of the last two Defensive Player of the Year awards went down. After scoring a playoff-high 136 points in Game 3, the Warriors have managed to total 207 points in the last six quarters.

Leonard is averaging 27.7 points on just 16.8 shots per game this postseason. Stephen Curry has 69 points on 39 shots this series.