Rowan Kavner
MILWAUKEE – Spencer Hawes knows it could’ve been worse.
The Clippers’ center missed Saturday night’s game against the Bucks with a knee injury he sustained the night prior, but an MRI Saturday revealed no structural damage.
“Just a couple bone bruises in there, so dodged a big bullet I guess, so to speak,” Hawes said.
Head coach Doc Rivers said Hawes “can play,” but he was held out Saturday. Hawes had his leg elevated in the locker room prior to the game and said there’s no specific timetable for his recovery.
“I think it’s still early,” Hawes said. “We want to figure out exactly what the issue is and try to go forward from there.”
Hawes has hurt his meniscus before and said he hopes that’s not impacted. There was obvious pain when Hawes came down on a foot going for a rebound and hurt his knee, but it wasn’t as bad as the uncertainty of what the injury was.
“The pain’s one thing,” Hawes said. “That’s kind of like the initial thing. But then you just start thinking, ‘How did I land? What is this? Have I felt this before?’ You start going through your head and thinking eight months down the road what it could mean if it’s one thing, if it’s another. There’s a lot of emotions going through your head when you land awkwardly like that.”
It’s a relief to know it shouldn’t be a long-term issue.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s a good feeling considering how it felt when I did it,” Hawes said. “I would say it’s a good feeling.”
With Hawes out, the Clippers now lack their primary big man off the bench to spell DeAndre Jordan who’s capable of pulling opposing centers out of the lane.
“One of the reasons we wanted him is because of what he does,” Rivers said. “He stretches the floor at the five, and his versatility. He can play with DJ or Blake (Griffin), and that’s been really good for us.
“When he’s in with DJ and DJ’s rolling, it opens the paint up for everybody. When he’s in with Blake, either guy can roll. You miss him. You miss just the fact that someone’s five, especially if it’s a shot-blocking five, is sitting out at the 3-point line. It makes your offense a little bit better.”
Barnes Fined
Matt Barnes was fined $25,000 for kicking a water bottle into the stands and profane language directed at fans.
The fine stemmed from the end of Friday’s loss to the Wizards with 2:09 remaining in the fourth quarter at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
Barnes found out about the fine Saturday, prior to a season-high 26-point night for the Clippers’ forward. He said he’s an emotional player and he thought one of the fans took things too far.
“I thought we’re the product,” Barnes said. “But when it comes to me, I’m never going to win that. I’ve got to take what they say and if I get hit with something, I’ve got to take that and smile. It is what it is.”
Barnes said the fan screamed and cussed at him and that he was hit with some sort of object he guessed could have been a quarter.
“You can yell and scream all you want,” Barnes said, “but when you start cussing and want to play the victim when I say something back or I get hit with something, I’m just supposed to shake it off… but it is what it is.”
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