Knee Injury Puts Rogers on the Bench

The Clippers may only be two games into their 50-game shortened season but for forward Rodney Rogers, it’s already shaping up as one of the longest in his five-year NBA career.

Rogers, who arrived to training camp a few pounds overweight, sat out Sunday night’s game against Chicago because of an injury to his right knee. Rogers, who had trouble with the knee early in camp, re-injured it late in Saturday’s practice when teammate Maurice Taylor fell on his leg.

Taylor, limited to only 15 minutes because of foul trouble in the season-opening loss to Phoenix on Friday, started in place of Rogers against the Bulls.

Rogers’ injury is listed as a sprained right medial collateral ligament and he is day-to-day.

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Rookie forward Tyrone Nesby was considered a longshot to make the team when training camp began but he’s been one of Ford’s top reserves for the first two games.

Nesby, a free agent from Nevada Las Vegas, played eight minutes and scored two points against the Suns on Friday.

“[Coach Ford] didn’t say anything, it kind of surprised me a little bit. I was on the sideline cheering everybody on and then all of the sudden he called my name,” Nesby said, who scored 17 points in 24 minutes in two exhibition games.

Against the Bulls, Nesby had four points in 13 minutes.

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Veteran point guard Pooh Richardson did not play as Ford used Sherman Douglas as backup for starter Darrick Martin. Douglas, who played only four minutes in the season opener, had eight points and no assists in 19 minutes. . . . Former Fontana High standout Corey Benjamin, Chicago’s first-round draft pick out of Oregon State, saw his first NBA action but did not score in eight minutes.