According to Andre Greif of the Los Angeles Times, Clippers star wing Paul George will miss his ninth straight game Sunday afternoon with a hamstring injury. George, who is the Clippers’ second-best player behind Kawhi Leonard, has only played 26 of the Clippers’ 46 games before today’s matchup in Orlando. The Clippers are 13-7 without George, and 19-7 with him.
Ahead of tomorrow’s game in Orlando, the Clippers list Paul George (hamstring) as OUT, Patrick Beverley (groin) as questionable and Patrick Patterson (left ankle; mild sprain) as questionable to play, as well.
— Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) January 26, 2020
Joining George on the injury report are point guard Patrick Beverley and forward Patrick Patterson. Beverley, the Clippers’ starter and only true point guard in the rotation, is questionable with a groin injury suffered on this six-game road trip. While Beverley has only missed two games with this current injury, he has missed 10 total games this season across multiple minor ailments and has a history of injury: last season’s career-best 78 appearances was just the second time in his 6-season career (excluding his first year, when he signed mid-season and didn’t have the opportunity to play a full season) that he played 70 or more games, and he has averaged 56.5 games played over that span.
Patterson’s mild left ankle sprain presents an additional complication for the Clippers: with George and Beverley injured, the Clippers have found themselves sorely shorthanded on guards, and with depth options such as Derrick Walton Jr, Jerome Robinson, Terance Mann, and Rodney Mcgruder underwhelming coach Doc Rivers, he had turned to a bigger rotation that featured Maurice Harkless in more small forward minutes, then bumping Kawhi Leonard to shooting guard and Landry Shamet to point guard. This adjusted rotation was only possible because Patrick Patterson and JaMychal Green were able to replace Harkless’ typical heavy power forward minutes.
If all three players are unavailable Sunday evening in Orlando, Rivers will have to continue to be creative as he searches for successful lineup combinations without both of his starting guards. With Tuesday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers looming, the Clippers need Beverley and George (and even Patterson, who Rivers has started defensively against Anthony Davis in the teams’ two prior contests this season) on the mend.