Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said the club is hopeful All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard will be cleared to return to action by Monday after going through the NBA’s concussion protocol.

Leonard sat out Saturday’s game against Golden State after suffering a blow to the head Thursday in Oklahoma City. The Spurs announced Friday he had entered the concussion protocol.

“He is just moving through the protocol,” Popovich said. “We expect he will be fine, but it just takes awhile. The next possible game is Monday (against Atlanta) and we hope he will be ready for that.”

A player going through the NBA’s concussion protocol must show no symptoms when at rest. Once that benchmark is cleared, he must complete a series of athletic tests without showing symptoms at each stage.

After passing those tests, the player must gain clearance from a team physician, with input from Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, director of the NBA concussion program.

Popovich said Leonard is at “step two or three.”

“They will tell me when he is ready,” Popovich said. “But he is doing fine so far.”

Leonard was in the Spurs locker room before the game. Asked by teammate Danny Green how he was doing, Leonard said, “I’m fine.”

Importance of rest: Coach Steve Kerr defended his decision to rest four of Golden State’s stars rather than play them against the Spurs in a nationally televised game.

Starters Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson sat out, as well as Andre Iguodala off the bench.

Saturday’s game marked the Warriors’ fifth in seven nights and the second in a back-to-back set after they lost at Minnesota on Friday.

“The training staff has told me we have several guys who are just fried,” Kerr said. “We know that when you’re tired and haven’t slept much, you’re more vulnerable to injury.”

The Warriors entered the game just 1½ games ahead of the Spurs in the race for the NBA’s top playoff seed. A victory would give the Spurs the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Knowing some fans would criticize his decision given what was at stake, Kerr said he purposefully didn’t look at his email Saturday.

“I do feel for the fans,” Kerr said. “I mean that sincerely. I feel for the fans who bought tickets to come to this game. But my job is to have our players ready for the playoffs and ready for the stretch run and fresh and healthy. That takes precedence over everything.”

The Spurs were also shorthanded after losing four players to either injury or illness: Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge (heart arrhythmia), Tony Parker (back) and Dejounte Murray (groin).

“We didn’t have to rest anybody because they all got hurt,” Popovich said.

Both coaches said they hope the NBA will continue to explore ways to make the schedule less grueling. Saturday’s game marked the Spurs’ sixth in nine nights.

“The league understands and they’re working hard to try to fix this issue,” Kerr said. “We know a lot more than we did 20 years ago. Maybe it’s not that smart to say, ‘Let’s just bang our heads against the wall and play all 82.’ “

torsborn@express-news.net