LOS ANGELES – The Clippers have battled injuries all season and even after getting J.J. Redick back for the first time in two months Thursday, it looks as though they may not have a complete roster until the postseason.
Prior to taking on the Dallas Mavericks, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said Jamal Crawford and Danny Granger, who both were sidelined during their recent five-game road trip, may not play again until the Playoffs begin in more than two weeks.
Crawford has struggled through a strained calf since he left the game in the first half of the Clippers’ Feb. 26 win over the Houston Rockets. Crawford has missed 12 of the last 18 games, including the last three. Most recently, he’s been nursing a sore left Achilles tendon, which, according to Rivers, is related to the initial calf injury.
“I think it’s all the calf,” Rivers said. “I know they use different words and everything, but at the end of the day, this is the calf injury. I was concerned when it happened because nobody was around. It’s always scared the heck out of me when a guy gets hurt and nobody is around. That means it’s your body.”
In the five games Crawford played before being sidelined again he averaged 17.8 points per game, including scoring a game-high 31 in New Orleans and 22 three nights later in Houston. But his Achilles began to bother him there and he has not played since.
As for Granger, the newest Clipper, he is working his way back from a strained left hamstring that he hurt in Dallas on Mar. 27. He was sent home for the remaining three games from the road trip and did not play Thursday.
Asked about when Granger or Crawford may return, Rivers offered a bleak assessment, at least for the final five games of the regular season.
“I don’t think they’re healthy,” Rivers said “If they’re healthy, they’ll play. I don’t know if they will be. I’m just concerned that there’s a chance. I’m not saying that they will not or will [play]. Danny most likely won’t play until the playoffs. Jamal, it’s starting to turn that way.”