Wright Suffers Ankle Injury

For Clipper forward/center Lorenzen Wright Sunday, it was a case of adding injury to insult.

Wright, whose playing time has been drastically reduced since the arrival of center Isaac Austin, sprained his left ankle in practice. Although X-rays were negative, Wright’s availability for Tuesday night’s game in Houston won’t be known until after practice today.

Wright, who is 6 feet 11, 240 pounds and a natural forward, had been playing center until Austin was acquired from the Miami Heat in a Feb. 19 trade.

Before Austin’s arrival, Wright had played 40 or more minutes in three of the Clippers’ four previous games and in five of their last seven. Since then, Wright has averaged 22 minutes.

Wright also was averaging 11 points a game. Since Austin came, he has scored two, three, three and zero points in four outings for a 2.0 average.

The low point came Friday night when he was shut out by the Phoenix Suns in 22 minutes. Wright took only two shots.

He knows that to change, he must learn to play in an offense that revolves around Austin.

But now, before Wright can even do that, his injury must heal sufficiently enough for him to get back on the floor.

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The Clippers are on a quick swing through Texas, with Tuesday’s game against the Houston Rockets to be followed by a Thursday game against the Mavericks in Dallas. From there, the Clippers go to Denver on Sunday and Phoenix on Monday before returning home, or at least to their second home, to face the Lakers on March 12 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.