Note: Story was updated at 6:45 p.m. PST.
LOS ANGELES – Clippers guard Chauncey Billups will be sidelined against the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night with peroneal tendinitis in his left foot.
Billups’ foot injury is unrelated to the torn left Achilles tendon he sustained on Feb. 6. The team has not announced a timetable for his return.
Veteran guard Willie Green is expected to start alongside Chris Paul in the backcourt.
“It’s frustrating, of course, working that hard to come back and have to kind of sit back and wait,” Billups said. “I know what it is. I respect the process and I’m not down at all. Of course, I want to be out there, but it is what it is. It’s all about the marathon for me.”
Billups made his season debut a week ago, less than 10 months after surgery to repair his injured Achilles. He averaged 19:51 per game in three starts, scoring 7.3 points with 1.3 assists. According to Billups, though, the foot injury is something he had been dealing with during his rehabilitation.
“It was something that I’ve been dealing with for a couple weeks, even before I played my first game,” Billups said. “I felt like I’ve worked way too hard to get back to play hurt.”
In Monday’s victory over the Utah Jazz, Billups converted two free throws to tie the game at 99 after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt by former Clipper Mo Williams. He finished with nine points in the game.
“Honestly, in the Utah game, it was really painful and I couldn’t really push off my left foot,” said Billups, who had an MRI Tuesday morning after the team returned from Salt Lake City. “It was just really weak. I couldn’t explode off of it, I couldn’t cut.”
Of the 15 shots Billups attempted in his first three games, 11 came from beyond the arc, including one from straightaway 1:03 into his season debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He is 4-for-11 from distance this year.
Billups’ return coincided with Green heading to the bench.
After starting the previous 14 games for the Clippers, scoring in double-figures twice, Green did not play in the three games Billups started. Still, Green remains the team leader in 3-point percentage (44.1%) and has said repeatedly he would be ready when called upon.