Rowan Kavner 
Digital Content Coordinator
PORTLAND, Ore. – As Monday night’s game ended, all of the Clippers packed into the training room to check on their injured leader.
To see Chris Paul grab at his hand in the third quarter, immediately realizing the severity of the injury as he motioned to the Clippers’ sideline for a sub before dejectedly walking to the bench and eventually to the locker room for the remainder of the game, they knew the impending diagnosis had to be serious.
Paul fractured the third metacarpal in his right hand, as the inauspicious sight yielded devastating results. Paul will be reevaluated Tuesday, but as head coach Doc Rivers said, it “obviously doesn’t look very good for him.”
“They love their players,” Rivers said of the group huddling together to see Paul. “Chris is taking this very hard. He’s worked all year to get back to the playoffs. For this to happen to him, he’s a very emotional guy.”
Paul had scored at least 25 points in each of his last five playoff games dating back to last season, and on a night no one had anything going offensively, he was the one keeping the Clippers close by starting 6-for-6 from the floor.
When things are out of sync, it’s typically Paul there to calm things down, one of the many traits the point guard brings to the table that the Clippers will need to somehow make up for as they travel back home to Los Angeles in a series tied, 2-2. In addition to everything Paul brought offensive, he's also the one always taking on the defensive assignment against the opposing point guard, in this case Damian Lillard.
“I talked to him, and he’s clearly disappointed,” said Blake Griffin. “There’s nothing you can do. You try to tell a guy like that, ‘It’s OK, we got you and it’s going to be OK,’ but he’s a competitor. He wants to play. It’s not easy dealing with injuries, especially at this time of the year.”
That’s something Griffin knows well, and something he’s dealing with again after planting in the third quarter Monday and feeling pain in the left quad that kept him out the majority of the regular season. Just minutes after Paul left the game and went to the locker room, Griffin followed.
He returned briefly before sitting out the end of the game, and Rivers said his guess is Griffin is 50-50 for Game 5. Griffin, much like Paul, will get evaluated Tuesday.
“I could feel it, but hopefully in the next 24 hours or 48 hours you turn a corner and feel better,” Griffin said.
As nice a family moment as it was for Rivers to see his players gather together to see Paul, Rivers said the reality is the Clippers now don’t have their point guard and need to figure out a way to band together to try to beat Portland with the series shifting back home.
He’s not about to throw in the towel in a tie series and home court advantage still intact. Rivers said the Clippers have been in adverse situations all year with guys out and figured out a way to come through.
With their backs against the wall perhaps more than ever before, they’ll try to do it again.
“Obviously, people are going to write us off,” said Jamal Crawford. “What are you going to do, you going to fight or run? For us, we’re going back home, and we’re ready to take care of business.”
That same line of thought came from Austin Rivers, as the reserves in the backcourt feel prepared to help finish what Paul started. The Clippers are all fully aware of the magnitude of their injury situation, with Paul and Griffin suddenly injured and J.J. Redick still playing through heel pain, and that was obvious Monday inside a postgame locker room somewhat in disbelief.
But they're not ready to call this the end.
“Chris, he’s our leader, he’s our guy,” Austin Rivers said. “But you’ve got to find a way to win. We still believe we’re going to win this series. I honestly believe that from the bottom of my heart.”