The Clippers beat a surprisingly resilient Bobcats team without Emeka Okafor, 100-93. Flying in the face of my pre-game prediction, Elton Brand had a sub-par game, scoring 14 points on 5 for 13 shooting. Corey Maggette led the team with 25 points and made 19 of 20 free throws. He actually made his first 18 before missing one in the final seconds. The win puts the Clippers back in 8th place in the West, tied at 27-29 with the Hornets, over whom they hold the season series lead.
And none of that matters.
Four minutes into the game, Shaun Livingston came down wrong on his left leg, which proceeded to fall apart. He dislocated his knee completely and until the doctor popped it back together, the bones of his lower leg were completely detached from the rest of his body; as Michael Smith said, "Held together by skin." It was horrific. ClipperZoe was in the room when they showed the replay, and she became quite nauseated at the sight.
X-rays were negative, meaning none of the bones are damaged. Tendons, ligaments, arteries - who knows? They'll need more sophisticated techniques to know the extent of the injury. An MRI and an arteriogram and probably many other tests will be conducted on Tuesday.
There's no way of knowing at this time how long Shaun will be out. But he's done for this season, you can be sure of that.
It would be disingenuous and cliche to say that this happened "just when he was starting to break out." But he did have a really good game on Saturday. And I for one was starting to believe that his skinny frame was strong enough to last an NBA season. Instead, this will be the third time in his three year career that Shaun will miss at least 20 games due to injury.
Many, many thoughts are swirling in my head right now. The names Marques Johnson, Ron Harper and Danny Manning all come to mind. I can't really formulate the thoughts. Surely I'll have more to say later.
For now, my thoughts and prayers are with Shaun for a return to full health.