Maggette Gets Bad News About Foot

On Friday, forward Corey Maggette received a more definitive explanation on the pain in his left foot.

The news wasn’t great.

After having a CT scan in Los Angeles, he was told by team physician Tony Daly that he has a separation of the ligament that lies between the bones midway in the foot. It’s an injury more common to football players, particularly linemen and running backs.

Although the separation was described as minor, Maggette’s foot was put in a soft cast and he is expected to be out for another four weeks.

Maggette, who was originally diagnosed as having a ligament sprain, has not played since Dec. 5.

He leaves a large hole in the Clippers’ offense. In the 13 games Maggette has played, he averaged 34.1 minutes, 21.7 points and 5.5 rebounds.

“It’s a big blow to us, obviously,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “We’ll see if there is anything we can do to ease that pain.”

Beginning today, the Clippers are off until Tuesday, when they face Sacramento. After that, they don’t play again until Dec. 31 against Boston.

Both games are at home, which gives the team some time to decide whether to trade for a player or ride out Maggette’s absence.

Quinton Ross is also out, with a back problem.

“We’ll see what’s up,” said Dunleavy, who spent Friday on the phone with General Manager Elgin Baylor discussing various moves. “You may see guys fly in. We’ll see who are available free agents, guys playing in the league ... go all different places. Right now we’re just trying to gather information.”

The Clippers, who beat Charlotte, 97-88, Friday, are 3-5 in the games Maggette has missed. The players took the Maggette news in stride.

“We’ll just have to stay focused while he heals,” said reserve forward Walter McCarty. “This is the NBA, and stuff like that happens. Usually you lose a key player for an amount of time. You play so many nights, put so much stress on your body, that things like this happen.

“We know we have guys capable of stepping up. We just have to do that every night.”

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There are plenty of examples of players who have left the Clippers looking for better opportunities. But Charlotte’s Melvin Ely wasn’t resentful of spending his first two years in Los Angeles on the bench. He understood the situation.

“When I was with the Clippers I was sitting behind one of the best power forwards in the league -- Elton Brand,” Ely said. “Chris Kaman is a heck of a player and so is Chris Wilcox. I never blamed anybody.

“Elton’s been doing what he’s doing this year every year. Because they’re winning more, people are taking notice of his hard play. But that hard play has always been there,” said Ely, now in his fourth NBA season.

“Last year [playing for Charlotte], I started for a month and a half, averaging something like 13 and eight. The feeling of being wanted and needed ... was a big confidence builder. I’ve been on cloud nine since then.”