Jaric Gets Back, Then Goes Out Again

Marko Jaric, back on the court for the first time in more than a month, played 72 seconds Sunday against the Chicago Bulls before he was sidelined again, this time because of a left hip pointer.

The Clipper point guard had been sidelined since Feb. 11, having sat out 12 games because of a stress fracture in the third metatarsal bone in his right foot. This after sitting out 17 games earlier in the season because of a stress fracture in the second metatarsal in the same foot.

“You know what?” he said after Sunday’s game, walking stiffly from the locker room. “I don’t know what to say. This is ridiculous.”

He entered the game with 3 minutes 22 seconds to play in the first quarter, replacing Rick Brunson, and during a timeout 30 seconds later held a heating pad to his hip. With 2:10 left in the quarter, he asked out of the game and walked straight to the locker room.

He said he had been elbowed in the hip, either by Antonio Davis or Othella Harrington of the Bulls, he guessed.

“It was such a strong hit that I was like, ‘I just can’t believe it,’ ” Jaric said. “I couldn’t even breath at all. It was a timeout right away and I try to come back and I couldn’t do it anymore so I was like, ‘OK, stop.’ For five minutes, I have so much pain. Now I feel much better.”

The Clippers called him questionable for Wednesday night’s game against the Orlando Magic but speculated that he might be sidelined for at least a week.

“It’s freaky,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “A hip pointer is an injury you see maybe three [times] every two years. It’s just not a common injury in this game.”

*

Corey Maggette, who scored 14 points on five-for-six shooting in the first half, scored five on one-for-six shooting in the second and afterward wore a bulky bandage on his left wrist. He said he injured the wrist in a first-half fall.

“The second half, I couldn’t even really grip the ball,” said Maggette, who also was listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game.