If the Los Angeles Clippers are to fend off elimination, they will have to do so without injured star Kawhi Leonard in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final.

The Clippers trail the second-seeded Phoenix Suns 3-1 in the NBA playoffs and Leonard remains sidelined due to a sprained right knee heading into Monday's must-win showdown.

Leonard has endured an injury-hit postseason, having not played since Game 4 of the Conference semi-finals against the top-ranked Utah Jazz.

In this season's playoffs, two-time NBA champion Leonard has been averaging 30.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists for the fourth-seeded Clippers.

The Suns can advance to the NBA Finals with victory at home to the Clippers, who were beaten 84-80 in Game 4.

"Just taking it one game at a time," Clippers head coach Tryonn Lue told reporters on Sunday. "You can't focus on winning three. You have to focus on winning one. It starts quarter by quarter, especially playing on the road right now in Game 5.

"You have to take it quarter by quarter and try to win each quarter. That's got to be your mindset. You can't think about three games and four or five, six days from now. You have to think about tomorrow and just winning quarter by quarter. I think that's the mindset that I've got to make sure our team has going into the game tomorrow."