Injuries force Clippers to go with different starting backcourt
The Clippers had to make do without their starting backcourt Monday night against the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center, putting L.A. in a precarious situation.
Point guard Chris Paul missed his third straight game with a strained left hamstring and shooting guard J.J. Redick missed the game with a sore left hamstring.
The Clippers, who start a three-game trip Wednesday night in New Orleans, didn’t give a timetable for the return of Paul or Redick.
Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said “you never know” when asked if Paul or Redick would be back this week.
“Chris’ [hamstring injury] is mild. [He’s] gonna miss two-three games,” Rivers said. “You just don’t know with hamstrings. The one thing you do know is you have to be more cautious than if it was a sprained ankle. Sprained ankle, you could still go out and play. With hamstrings, you just can’t take a chance.”
With Blake Griffin (right knee surgery) also out along with Paul and Redick, the Clippers’ depth has taken a hit.
Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford started in the backcourt and Wesley Johnson started at forward.
“Sure, it affects you,” Doc Rivers said about not being as deep. “You just have to figure out a way to play with that group. There’s no Chris Paul, so you can’t be that. You can’t be J.J. In some ways, for this group, you really do have to narrow them down to, ‘You’re playing Denver. You’re not playing the season. Let’s figure out a way to beat this team, this way, with what we have.’ That’s what we have to do.”
Though these are tough times for the Clippers, the coach prefers to look at the positive that might come out of this injury situation.
“Listen, I want to be healthy, but I don’t think there’s ever anything bad,” he said. “I always say, there’s something good in this. We’ll find something out. I don’t know what it is, but I always think you find a diamond in any of this stuff when it happens. And it happens to every team. We’ll figure out something when it’s all done and everybody is back.”
Etc.
The Clippers sent rookie Diamond Stone to the NBA Development League for his second assignment this season. Stone will be playing for the Salt Lake City Stars.
Twitter: @BA_Turner
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