Tuesday NBA Playoff Roundup: Clippers’ Season Unravelling After Injuries

Once in possession of a 2-1 series lead over the Portland Trail Blazers and faced with the possibility of playing a Stephen Curry-less version of the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals, the Los Angeles Clippers have seen their postseason promise turn into utter despair. 

Not just because they dropped Game 4 Monday night and allowed Rip City to even up the first-round clash, but because Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will no longer be helping out. Without the two stars, it’s unlikely the Clippers can survive the Western gauntlet, and their ability to win even two more games is in serious doubt. 

In the third quarter of Monday’s contest, the All-Star point guard tried to steal the ball away from Gerald Henderson, but the seemingly innocuous play turned disastrous when he broke a bone in his right hand: 

On Tuesday, Paul underwent surgery that will keep him out of the lineup until a re-evaluation in four to six weeks, per Rowan Kavner of the team’s website. Though there’s always a chance he could beat that timetable, does anyone really expect the Clippers to be playing meaningful basketball after even two weeks without him? 

“Major, major blow,” Jamal Crawford explained to reporters after his teammate suffered the devastating injury. “I just feel bad for him personally, because I know how much he puts into the game and how much he gives himself for the team.”

Somehow, that wasn’t even the worst diagnosis this former contending team received after Game 4.

Griffin also pulled up lame, aggravating his quad injury while drawing a foul on Mason Plumlee in the third quarter. According to Kavner, he’s been ruled out for the remainder of the postseason, and CBS Sports’ Ananth Pandian subsequently showed that one projection model has this news putting a significant damper on the team’s chances of surviving its first-round series against Portland:

This is a serious setback for the Clippers and will likely derail any further success they have in the playoffs. According to SportsLine projections, the Clippers now have a 29.1 percent chance of making it out of the first round due to the injuries to Paul and Griffin…before the series started the Clippers had a 62.9 percent chance of beating the Blazers. If the Clippers are able to get past the Blazers, SportsLine projects that their season will end in the second round, where they have a 0.8 percent chance of advancing. SportsLine also projects that the Clippers have a 0.1 chance of making the Western Conference Finals and zero chance of making the NBA Finals.

Instead of relying on Paul and Griffin, the Clippers are now left turning to their limited depth and hoping unproven players such as Austin Rivers and Cole Aldrich can make gigantic impacts. They have massive shoes to fill, as do the established contributors—DeAndre Jordan, Paul Pierce and Crawford. 

If L.A. is to overcome this pair of devastating blows—as well as the bruised heel plaguing J.J. Redick—it will take a …

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