Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have been cleared from the NBA's health and safety protocols and will return on Friday when the Los Angeles Clippers play the Orlando Magic.

Leonard and George missed the first two games of the Clippers' six-game road trip.

Leonard is averaging 25.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.0 steals this season. George is enjoying a bounce-back season, averaging 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.2 steals.

Tyronn Lue said that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are "feeling well," but did not know when they would rejoin the Los Angeles Clippers.

Leonard and George did not travel with the Clippers to start their six-game road trip due to health and safety protocols.

"Those guys are feeling well and they can get better and hopefully join the team soon," said Lue.

The two players could join the team during this current road trip depending on the extent of the protocols.

Patrick Beverley also did not travel with the team due to right knee soreness. 

The New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers have interest in trading for Derrick Rose. Tom Thibodaeu coached Rose with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves, while Ty Lue had a brief stint coaching him with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Rose was linked with a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers last season.

Rose is on an expiring contract with the Detroit Pistons.

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have been ruled out for the Los Angeles Clippers' game on Tuesday due to health and safety protocols.

Patrick Beverley has also been ruled out due to knee soreness. 

Paul George spoke of his motivation coming into this season, saying that he was fueled by opponents seeing a "weakness" in him.

"I'm coming back with vengeance. I didn't like, not so much of the noise and everything around [the way last season ended], but just the fact that people saw weakness.

"And I had to address that. I had to answer that. That fueled me. That put me in a place where I wanted to come back and be myself again," said George following the Clippers' 138-100 win over the Kings.

George is currently averaging 25.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. 

George is also shooting career-highs in field goal percentage (50.3%), the three-point line (51.5%), and the free throw line (91.8%).

"After the tough year last year, it was the only way I could respond. I immediately went straight to a dark place of where I just, I had nothing but to get better. That was the only thing on my mind, and the only thing was to get better," added George. 

Kawhi Leonard said that the Los Angeles Clippers have to "change" after blowing a 22-point third quarter lead against the Golden State Warriors.

The Clippers, up 85-63 with 3:15 left in the third, lost the game 115-105. 

"We just have to change, pretty much. We've got to change it. We've got to get better," said Leonard after the loss.

Since the beginning of last season, the Clippers have lost a league-high eight games when up by at least 15 points.

Paul George added that players must demand more out of each other.

"We just want to -- just be great as a unit, just demand greatness out of everybody. We got to be better. All of us included. This was a team loss, more than anything. We just got to get better. We'll work on it."

Kawhi Leonard played both nights of a back-to-back for the first time in nearly four years, scoring 21 points in the Los Angeles Clippers' 108-101 win over the Golden State Warriors.

“He just said he’s feeling good,” Tyronn Lue said of Leonard. “We talked about it before the season started, that he wanted to play in back to backs. He was feeling good and he wanted to play in more games, so we’re just going to take it one back to back at a time and the good thing is he’s playing for us tonight.”

Leonard is averaging 23.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 34.2 minutes per game.

Several members of the Los Angeles Clippers' support staff are quarantined in Los Angeles after a positive COVID-19 test, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski.

The group does not include any players, coaches, or management.

Contact tracing lead back to eight people celebrating New Year's Eve at the team hotel in Salt Lake City.