Rivers: Clippers 'want to be smart' about Kawhi's playing time

Doc Rivers wants to have Kawhi Leonard fully healthy for the postseason.

Before then, eight regular-season games await the Los Angeles Clippers at the NBA's secluded campus at Disney World. The Clippers are mathematically guaranteed to make the playoffs but can finish anywhere between first and seventh in the Western Conference.

As one of the team's two superstars, Leonard is expected to influence where the Clippers finish, but Rivers wouldn't commit to playing the forward extensively in Orlando.

"I don't know that yet. But no limits. Kawhi is healthy for the most part," the Clippers head coach said Monday, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk. "That still doesn't mean that we don't want to maintain him and get him through the first eight games and get ready for the playoffs. We want to be smart about this."

Los Angeles has sought to preserve Leonard's knee since signing him as a free agent last summer by holding him out of the second game of back-to-backs this season.

The two-time Finals MVP likened the team's upcoming eight fixtures to preseason, which will allow him to ready his body for the playoffs.

"You usually have three months and then come in for a training camp, have a couple practices, then you've got the preseason games," Leonard said. "That's pretty much the mindset. But like everybody knows, you only get eight games to get ready for the postseason. But pretty much just take that same timeline to prepare yourself."