Momentum: Portland
Things went from bad to worse on Monday night for the Los Angeles Clippers. Not only were they on their way to giving up the 2-0 lead against the Portland Trail Blazers and let them tie the series, but Chris Paul suffered a serious injury that could potentially lose them the best-of-seven against them. Yeah, that means a first class ticket on the first flight out of the playoffs in the first round. Again.
The horrible news happened during the third quarter of tonight’s ball game,while defending Gerald Henderson. As soon as CP3 hurt his right hand, he knew his night, and potentially his season the court, would be a wrap. Paul met with a team trainer as soon as the injury happened and was visibly angered as he walked to the locker room.
The official diagnosis on the injury: a third metacarpal fracture in his hand. Chris did not return to the game and details on how much time he will miss has not yet been revealed.
Paul ended the contest with 16 points and 4 assists before he left the game.
"It doesn't look very good for him." -Doc Rivers on Chris Paul's injury https://t.co/eMsUf6ZyQq
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 26, 2016
Damian Lillard and company took advantage of this huge opportunity and managed to win the game thanks to his 12 points, C.J. McCollum‘s 19 points and a big performance from Al-Farouq Aminu, who dropped 30 on Lob City. Allen Crabbe also added a spark off the bench with 12 points.
Portland’s W ties the series at two games a piece, with things now headed back to Los Angeles for a game five and momentum significantly shifting towards the Trail Blazers.
CP3 obviously runs that Clippers offense, so it’ll be interesting to see how the team responds without him in the lineup. They’ll need their bench to step things up heavily and help DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin on offense to have a chance at advancing to the second round.
And speaking of Griffin, he might have injured his quad as well. He was seen clutching his leg on the bench towards the end of the game. He will be reevaluated tomorrow.
FINAL: LAC 84 | POR 98
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