Clippers’ Matt Barnes out with injured eye
Clippers backup small forward Matt Barnes didn’t make the trip to Minneapolis because he has a bruised left eye, the team announced Wednesday afternoon.
Barnes was injured during the Clippers’ game against the Grizzlies on Monday night when he was hit by an inadvertent elbow from Memphis forward Zach Randolph.
The Clippers said Barnes will miss the game against the Timberwolves on Wednesday night and against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.
With Barnes out, Clippers Coach Doc Rivers probably will turn to rookie Reggie Bullock to provide some backup minutes at small forward behind starter Jared Dudley.
Rivers is high on Bullocks, who has played in seven games and averaged 3.4 minutes per game and 0.6 points on 12.5% shooting.
He has made just one of his eight field-goal attempts and missed all six of his three-pointers.
It has been a tough season so far for Barnes, who is averaging 5.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 20.0 minutes per game.
Barnes was fined $25,000 by the NBA last week for inappropriate language he used on Twitter after being ejected from the Clippers-Oklahoma City because of a fight with Serge Ibaka.
He has played in just eight of the first 11 games because of a right thigh bruise.
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