Clippers’ Chris Paul has successful thumb surgery
Clippers guard Chris Paul had successful surgery Wednesday morning to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb, the team said.
The procedure that was performed by Dr. Steve Shin of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic and will sideline Paul for approximately six to eight weeks.
As the Clippers prepared to play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night at Staples Center, the team vowed to push forward in Paul’s absence.
“His spirits are good. I talked to him yesterday,” Clippers guard J.J. Redick said before practice Wednesday. “And as a team, we’ve just got to keep playing and try to win as many games as possible until we can get back to full strength, hopefully sometime in March.”
Paul was injured in the second quarter of Monday night’s game against Oklahoma City at Staples Center.
Blake Griffin is still recuperating from right knee surgery, though he is expected to return by the end of the month. And now the team will be without Paul. But Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said they won’t mope about their circumstances.
“Sometimes, you have good rolls, sometimes you don’t,” Rivers said. “This is not a season-ending injury. That would affect you more. But, it’s not. I look at this as an opportunity for a bunch of guys who haven’t played together a lot.
“We still have new guys – Alan [Anderson] is new and Raymond [Felton] is new and Mo [Speights] and Brandon [Bass] – this is a good opportunity for them to learn how to execute together. When everyone is back, when you get Chris and Blake back, if this group can execute, and then you put those two guys back on the floor, I think it makes us better in the long run. This is not the way you want to do it, but this is the way it’s been presented.”
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