Rowan Kavner
LOS ANGELES – The reigning Sixth Man of the Year is back in action.
Jamal Crawford missed the Clippers’ previous 17 games with a calf contusion before checking in Tuesday against the Lakers with 2:21 remaining in the first quarter. He had four points and an assist in 19 minutes, but he’s just happy to be back as he works to get his conditioning right.
"I feel like a rookie playing his first game just getting back into the swing of things,” Crawford said before the game.
Crawford joked afterward that those 19 minutes felt like 35 minutes, but he also said he’s a big picture guy and knows that this is the time he needs to take advantage of to find his rhythm before the playoffs.
He knows it’ll take some time to get back in basketball shape. He said Tuesday was the first time he played 5-on-5 since going down March 2 in Minnesota, but he’s no longer concerned about his calf contusion the way he was last year when he dealt with a strain.
“I’m not worried about that at all,” Crawford said. “When I’m working out, I’m thinking about the rest of my body, because for me it feels like the fourth day of training camp when your whole body is sore when you’re getting re-acclimated. My calf is the only thing that’s not sore.”
Crawford hit his first shot of the game early in the second quarter, making a move, drilling the long jumper and drawing the foul in typical Crawford fashion. He knows those types of plays will happen more often as he works himself back.
Head coach Doc Rivers wasn’t sure a return this early would be possible when he saw Crawford just two weeks ago in the parking lot at the practice facility barely able to walk out of his car.
Somehow, Crawford managed to heal quickly enough to return to NBA action a couple weeks later.
“It’s a relief,” Rivers said. “I would say two weeks ago I was skeptical if he was going to make it back. Fortunately, he’s gotten better and he’s back. It’s a big relief for me, for sure.”
Crawford admitted he was still limping when the Clippers went on their East Coast trip to New York, Philadelphia and Boston. He said when the team returned, no one could believe he was walking. He was actually already jogging at that point.
“It happened that fast,” Crawford said. “Over the past week, I started working on the court. That’s why the rust will be there. This whole time, I haven’t been able to do anything besides pool workouts. I really started taking off this last week.”
Crawford’s had his calf drained twice since the injury, and he said the most recent drainage was the turning point. About four or five days later, he started to feel like he could move again. That was a relief for Crawford and for Rivers, who was forced to play everyone on the second unit differently.
He also had to play a lot more of J.J. Redick, who answered the call by averaging 20.6 points per game in March and 20.7 points per game in the first three games of April before Crawford’s return.
“We’ve put J.J. in that (second) lineup a lot,” Rivers said. “I didn’t like that, even though he played well. I just didn’t like that. I thought he was playing too many minutes in a row, so at least we can get away from that, which is good.”
Only Blake Griffin and Chris Paul average more points per game for the Clippers than Crawford, whose loss was a major one as he goes for another Sixth Man of the Year award.
It was tough for Crawford to helplessly watch the Clippers while he was out. He said there’s a moment of truth in every game where he felt he could help push a lead farther or help shrink a deficit.
But the Clippers managed to go 12-5 while he was out.
“I have to think about the positive out of it,” Crawford said. “I've seen our team grow.”
