LA Clippers forward Paul George. (Jonathan Hui-USA TODAY Sports)
An injury will keep Paul George from finishing the regular season, but the latest update on the star’s knee just revived the Clippers playoff hopes.
There’s no sugar coating a knee injury for Paul George while the Clippers are in a battle for playoff positioning.
But there is a silver lining to that dark cloud and it arrived on Thursday night with the latest injury update for the Clippers star.
George, who went down on Tuesday night with a sprained right knee, suffered no damage to his major ligaments and he does not need surgery, according to Law Murray of The Athletic.
That’s about as much as the Clippers could have asked for, even though the two or so weeks of rest Paul needs could determine whether the playoffs are a reality for the team or not.
Paul George injury update: Clippers could get star back for playoffs
The Clippers held the No. 5 seed going into Thursday’s game against the Thunder. However, the Western Conference playoff race is ridiculously tight with just two games separating the No. 5 seed from the first team out of the play-in games.
Kawhi Leonard and company can’t afford to drop too many games in George’s absence. If they fall into the play-in tournament they might not give the small forward enough time to heal before being knocked out of the postseason.
At best it looks like LA will need to get into the first round to see George on the floor. Andrew Greif sounds less optimistic than even that.
“Was told a return by George for a first-round series might be overly optimistic,” Greif tweeted.
So the news on George is mostly positive, but the Clippers will need to make some lemonade out of the lemons they’ve been dealt in order to keep their postseason aspirations alive.