LOS ANGELES — Clippers star Paul George is out for two to three weeks after an ugly right knee sprain in the waning seconds of a loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday night.
In a postgame reaction episode of the Locked On Clippers podcast, host Darian Vaziri explained the demons the injury brings up among Clippers fans and followers, as well as what it means for the team this season.
“It comes at a time, nine games left in the season after this one, that it was finally starting to look, like the Clippers were healthy, like they were at least starting to play better basketball,” Vaziri said.
And while much of the season for the Clippers has centered on managing health and nursing injuries for veteran stars, Vaziri does not believe George’s injury is related to those efforts at all.
“That injury has nothing to do with load management, it has nothing to do with increased workload or with rest workload,” Vaziri said. “Any time you step on the court, something like that can happen.”
Regardless of why the hyperextension happened or how, Vaziri explained that Clippers fans should expect very little if their second-best player is out long-term. Even a return late in the regular season would put them at risk of missing the playoffs, needing to win out of the play-in tournament, or drawing a touch first-round matchup.
“Without Paul George, this team is not winning a championship,” Vaziri said. “It would have to be a 2021 Cinderella thing again. … But there’s no real positive way for me to spin this.”
The Clippers have nine games remaining in the season with a one-game lead on Minnesota for the sixth seed.