Vaught Goes on Injured List

The Clippers put forward Loy Vaught, likely to have season-ending back surgery, on the injured list before Thursday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.

Vaught, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder last season, was advised to have fusion surgery by two physicians Tuesday for a degeneration between the fourth and fifth disks.

The Clippers activated guard James Collins, who was put on the injured list because of a strained lower back on Oct. 30. With the activation of Collins, the Clippers have six guards on their 12-man roster.

Clipper Coach Bill Fitch hopes the injury won’t end Vaught’s career.

“My hope is that he gets an operation and can play again,” Fitch said. “Nobody has assured him that if he has this operation, he can play again.

“He was one of the real good guys on our basketball team, but we’ve got [Maurice] Taylor and we’ve got [Lorenzen] Wright and those two guys have got to step up and meet the challenge.

“It’s a big blow to our basketball team. We’ve already proven that we miss Loy. Our record could be partially attributed to the fact that he hasn’t been out there doing his normal job for us.”