Injury Report: Crawford’s Elbow, Small Forwards Closer

Rowan Kavner

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Clippers’ winning streak isn’t the only thing swelling.

So is Jamal Crawford’s elbow, which head coach Doc Rivers revealed is a result to an inflamed bursa sac in his shooting elbow. But Rivers doesn’t sound particularly concerned and said he doubts Crawford will need to have it drained.

“I don’t think it’s that bad,” Rivers said. “I think he has a bursa sac or whatever. He hit his elbow.”

The bursa sac, located between tissues, is naturally filled with fluid and decreases rubbing and friction between bone, muscle and tendons. It can become inflamed and swell from impact on the area or overuse.

That’s what happened for Crawford, who banged his elbow Wednesday against the Pacers. But it doesn’t sound like he’s in danger of missing any time and was participating in practice Thursday.

For now, it’s just something to be aware of.

“It’s just a bursa sac,” Rivers said. “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. It can get bad, those things, but I don’t think it’s an issue right now.”

Crawford still managed to score a team-high 18 points Wednesday on 7-of-12 shooting. He’s got at least 18 points in 13 games this year, including seven of his last 10 games. He’s not listed on the injury report and should be good to go Friday against the Wizards.

“Jamal, he’s a baller,” Rivers said. “There’s a lot of players, Washington has two of them, Andre Miller and Paul (Pierce), when you come into our gym in the summertime, you see all these young guys, and then you see Andre Miller and Paul. They’re just playing at their own pace. You could tell this summer, even at their ages, they’re kind of working on something, they can care less about who’s winning the game.

“You can see these young guys flying around at full speed and Paul at the end of the game dominates. Jamal’s very similar to that. Jamal plays all summer up in Seattle, pick-up games, and there’s certain guys I always put in the “baller” category. He’s one of those.”

Small Forwards

Both Chris Douglas-Roberts (Achilles) and Reggie Bullock (ankle) practiced in some capacity Thursday.

Douglas-Roberts hasn’t played since Nov. 5, and Bullock hasn’t played since Dec. 1. Both players are still listed as doubtful for Friday’s matchup, but they’re making steps.

Douglas-Roberts was proud of the fact he got over the rim while dunking off two feet for the first time in a while and described himself as “right at the door” of a full return.

“I’ve been playing 2-on-2s and 1-on-1s and feeling really good,” Douglas-Roberts said.

While he didn’t say exactly when he planned on making his return to a real game, Douglas-Roberts has been encouraged by the improved lateral movement and has been going against “the young guys” 1-on-1 in practice to know that he’s fully recovered and can move well.

RELATED CONTENT