Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George suffered a knee injury Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder that many feared would be serious in the immediate aftermath. But further medical tests on Wednesday confirmed that it was a knee sprain that could allow the veteran to return in two to three weeks.
Concerns about George’s injury were mostly a result of its nature, as the Clippers star landed awkwardly on his right leg after grabbing a rebound. He was later forced to use crutches and left the stadium in a cart.
George’s absence for several weeks could still hurt the Clippers, as he will have to miss the regular season regardless of his health upon reevaluation, but for a player who has had a number of long-term injuries over the course of his career, a few weeks was far from the worst-case scenario.
Without the All-Star forward on the floor for the final games of the regular season, the Clippers will still have to carry on as they cling to a guaranteed playoff spot in the Western Conference. The team is currently in fifth but could easily lose places to a number of teams close behind.
Following George’s injury, fellow star forward Kawhi Leonard said that the team would adjust to the loss and close out the regular season well.
“Next man up,” Leonard said. “We’ll see. Like I said, we’ve got a group of guys that still want to win and like to play basketball. So we’ll see what happens.”
If George is not fit to play upon reevaluation in a few weeks, then the injury will almost certainly cut into his playing time in the postseason. The Clippers can feasibly survive the rest of the regular season without him, but it would be much more difficult for them to advance far in the playoffs, particularly in a closely contested first-round matchup against a similar seed.
