The hits keep coming for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Already without Blake Griffin, the Clippers announced on Tuesday that All-Star Chris Paul will miss 6-8 weeks after tearing a ligament in his left thumb, Paul, who is scheduled to have surgery Wednesday, will likely miss up to 20 games. The Clippers have 39 games left in their season.
From the Clippers:
The L.A. Clippers announced today that guard Chris Paul will undergo surgery on Wednesday, Jan. 18 to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. Dr. Steve Shin will perform the procedure.
Paul is expected to miss approximately six-to-eight weeks and will continue to undergo treatment and evaluation by the Clippers medical staff.
Paul injured his thumb in the Clippers' 120-98 win over the Thunder on Monday. He ran into a screen set by Joffrey Lauvergne in the second quarter and shortly after grabbed his hand in pain. He then angrily left the court and did not return to the game.
This is the second injury for Paul this season as he had a hamstring injury earlier that cost him seven games. The Clippers went 2-5 without Paul during that stretch. Adding to the Clippers' misery, the team has gone 3-9 since last season when both Paul and Griffin don't play.
Since the start of last season, the Clippers are 3-9 in games without both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 18, 2017
Here are six things to know about Paul's injury:
Clippers will still make the playoffs
Although losing Paul for upwards of two months is a massive setback for the Clippers, they are still in good position to make the playoffs. Los Angeles is currently fourth in the West with a record of 29-14. According to the SportsLine Projection Model, the Clippers can still finish in the top five in the West with a 39 percent chance of having home court even if Paul misses 20 games.
CLIPPERS | WIN | WIN% | PLAYOFF | SEED | HOME COURT | WIN ROUND 1 |
w/ Chris Paul | 50.7 | 61.8% | 99.9% | 4TH | 70.1% | 62.7% |
Paul out 20 games | 47.8 | 58.3% | 99.7% | 5TH | 38.8% | 53.3% |
IMPACT | -2.9 | -3.5% | -0.2% | -1 | -31.3% | -9.4% |
At worst, the Clippers drop down to the 7th seed. The 8th seed or out of the playoffs altogether seems unrealistic as they would have to lose basically all of their remaining games for that to happen.
In a different year, you might wonder if the Clips are going to miss the playoffs. But there's no falling further than 7th this year.
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) January 18, 2017
As also shown above, the Clippers still have a 53 percent chance of getting out of the first round. They aren't entirely out of luck once they reach the postseason.
Rough stretch coming
While the playoffs are still in the Clippers' sights, their next 20 games (including 13 on the road) without Paul won't be too kind to them. According to the SportsLine Projection Model, the Clippers are forecasted to win just 33 percent of those 20 games, down from around 50 percent if Paul wasn't hurt.
L.A. CLIPPERS | WIN | LOSS | WIN PCT. |
With Chris Paul | 9.5 | 10.5 | 47.5% |
Without Chris Paul | 6.6 | 13.4 | 33.0% |
20-game impact | -2.9 | 2.9 | -14.5% |
Time for Felton and Rivers to step up
With Paul out, the Clippers will turn to Raymond Felton, who will likely be inserted into the starting lineup. And while he's been the subject of much ridicule in the past, Felton is a more than serviceable player and has been playing well for the Clippers, averaging 7.2 points and 2.5 assists in 21.3 minutes. Felton is no Paul, of course, yet he plays well in pick-and-roll situations, which suits DeAndre Jordan's game and should do just fine for the Clippers.
The Clippers may also choose to move Austin Rivers into the starting lineup. Rivers is more of scorer and is not as good a playmaker as Felton but he has started for the Clippers already this season and has shown some real growth in his sixth season. Rivers is having a career year, averaging career highs in field-goal percentage (44 percent), three-point shooting (38.9 percent), assists (2.5) and points (11.0).
Time to blow up the Clippers?
Call it a curse but for some reason injuries have always prevented the Clippers from taking the next step. And now with Paul's latest injury, could this finally force the Clippers to break up their Big 3 and look to rebuild or retool?
That's hard to know for sure. But with Blake Griffin being a free agent this summer and now with Paul's injury, you can bet that the Clippers will likely be mentioned in various trade rumors and reports. February's trade deadline is just a few weeks away after all.
At least Blake is coming back
While not having Paul is a huge blow for the Clippers, Griffin is expected to return in the coming weeks. Griffin is a highly skilled player and should be able to assume some of Paul's playmaking whenever he returns.
Open All-Star spot in the West
Although he will still be injured, Paul will likely be selected to be on the Western Conference All-Star team. This means that commissioner Adam Silver will have to choose an injury replacement. The West is loaded with talented guards so this could be a tough decision for Silver. But with how successful the Rockets have been this season, perhaps Silver will choose Eric Gordon. Or if Klay Thompson isn't initially selected, he could be chosen as well. Either way, whoever the commish selects will be an interesting footnote related to Paul's injury.